Howard Jacobson

In an ever divided Britain, this wryly observed novel is a timely and thought-provoking read from the Booker-winning author of The Finkler Question. 'A very funny, bitterly intelligent novel...do read it' Malcolm BradburySefton Goldberg: mid-thirties, English teacher at Wrottesley Poly in the West Midlands;

Marvin Kreitman lives for sex, and infidelity is a way of life for him. His friend, Charlie Merriweather, on the other hand, has been faithful to his wife for 20 years. But then Charlie decides he wants a piece of Marvin's disordered life.

From the beginning Oliver Walzer is a natural - at ping-pong. At sex he is not so adept, but with tuition from Sheeny Waxman, fellow member of the Akiva Social Club Table Tennis Team and stalwart of the Kardomah coffee bar, his game improves. Winner of the 2010 Man Booker Prize.

Winner of the 2010 Man Booker Prize. Karl Leon Forelock is a product of the northern English town of Partington (the wettest spot in Europe) and a graduate with a double starred first in the Moral Decencies from Malapert college, Cambridge.

Barney Fugleman has two major preoccupations in life: sex and literature. He is obsessed by the life and work of a man hailed by many as a genius of the nineteenth century. This curious propulsion drives him out of Finchley, and out of the life he shares with Sharon and her 'rampant marvellings', to Cornwall.