Imprint
- John Murray
Fiction, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
A sparkling, comic novel about modern India
Winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize and shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction
Ayyan Mani is a man born to greater things, which wouldn't surprise his neighbours in the vast tenement building in which he lives, where to be sober and employed practically makes a man a legend.
He works as an assistant at the Institute of Theory and Research, where he studies with amusement and envy the public battles and private love affairs of the squabbling scientists. But when an opportunity for betterment presents itself in the form of his 'gifted' ten-year-old son Adi, father and son embark on an outrageous ruse that will have far-reaching consequences . . .
Manu Joseph's archly comic debut is a tale of a man's attempt to elevate himself and his family above the banality of ordinary existence.
More books by Manu Joseph
Praise for Serious Men
-
Funny, diverting and original - Guardian
-
Manu Joseph's first novel elegantly describes collisions with an unyielding status quo, ably counterpointing the frustrations of the powerless with the unfulfilling realities of power. With this astute comedy of manners he makes a convincing bid for his own recognition as a novelist of serious talent, the latest addition to a roster of Indian writers who are creating fine literary art from their country's fearsome contradictions - Peter Carty, Independent
-
Manu Joseph's satirical tale of an ostensibly new India still in thrall to its caste-ridden and sexist traditions is so much more than a mere comic caper . . . Sophisticated entertainment - Catherine Taylor, Guardian
-
The finest comic novelists know that a small world can illuminate a culture and an age...with this sad-funny debut Joseph does just that - Boyd Tonkin, Books to light up lazy days, Independent
-
He has written a debut novel that skewers a society where new ambitions and older class divisions co-exist. From the contrasts of contemporary India, he extracts pointed, often bitter comedy - Sunday Times
-
The writing is exuberant - TLS
-
A charming debut novel - Guardian
-
One of the strongest debuts of 2010, this bittersweet Mumbai tale of high minds and low plots never quite won the plaudits it deserves. Now it has a second chance . . . More Lucky Jim than White Tiger . . . Touching, hilarious, this collision between the Mumbai of stars and of mud rediscovers a deep Indian vein of humane and sophisticated comedy - Independent
Manu Joseph
Manu Joseph is a columnist with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of the New York Times. The Illicit Happiness of Other People is his second novel. His first darkly comic novel, Serious Men, won the Hindu Best Fiction Award 2010 and was one of Huffington Post's 10 best books of 2010. He was also shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize, and for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction.
Find a book you’ll love, get our Word Up newsletter
.png?auto=compress&w=150&h=60&fit=crop&fm=jpg)
.png?auto=compress&w=150&h=60&fit=crop&fm=jpg)
Hachette Australia acknowledges and pays our respects to the past, present and future Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Our head office is located on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.
