She pouts. I was expecting more of a story, she says. It is difficult to get into the swing when the subject keeps changing.

An ageing writer fills his journal: he has opinions about everything. He is challenged by Anya, the smart, irreverent young woman he hires to type his notes. Anya’s boyfriend scorns the writer and schemes against him.

With its three simultaneous voices, Diary of a Bad Year is not only a novel about loneliness, friendship and the possibility of love, it changes the logic of reading itself.