Jonathan Coe

Jonathan Coe, author of 11 novels including What a Carve Up! and The Rotters Club, is one of Britain’s great comic writers, bringing tremendous wit and humanity to some of the most pressing socio-political issues of the day. He talks to Alex Clark about his new novel, Number 11, about the legacy of war and the end of innocence. It’s about living in a city where bankers need cinemas in their basement (are you reading this, Foxtons?) and others need food banks down the street. It’s about how comedy and politics are battling it out and how comedy might have won.