Description

‘The premier satirist of great British crapness is on killer form in this gag-a-minute mystery’ Observer

‘A new Jonathan Coe is always a treat… Coe is a master at exploring the pains of modern life’ The Times

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Post-university life doesn’t suit Phyl. Time passes slowly living back home with her parents, working a zero-hour contract serving Japanese food to holidaymakers at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. As for her budding plans of becoming a writer, those are going nowhere.

That is, until family friend Chris comes to stay. He’s been on the path to uncover a sinister think-tank, founded at Cambridge University in the 1980s, that’s been scheming to push the British government in a more extreme direction. One that’s finally poised to put their plans into action.

But speaking truth to power can be dangerous – and power will stop at nothing to stay on top.

As Britain finds itself under the leadership of a new Prime Minister whose tenure will only last for seven weeks, Chris pursues his story to a conference being held deep in the Cotswolds, where events take a sinister turn and a murder enquiry is soon in progress. But will the solution to the mystery lie in contemporary politics, or in a literary enigma that is almost forty years old?

Darting between decades and genres, THE PROOF OF MY INNOCENCE is a wickedly funny and razor-sharp new novel from one of Britain’s most beloved novelists, showing how the key to understanding the present can often be found in the murkiest corners of the past.

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‘Full of energy… a madcap caper, a sideways memoir, a tricky jeu d’esprit that is also a quiet defence of fiction in a post-truth age, and enormous fun to read’ Guardian

‘Deeply pleasurable, and a lot of fun. You emerge from it glowing’ iPaper

‘Fantastic, wickedly funny and gripping. Coe has written a beautifully crafted mystery that dovetails as a sharp, smart, state of the nation’ Simon McCleave

‘I was delighted… it’s clever and political – while also being very funny’ John Self

Publisher Review

My comfort read: anything by Jonathan Coe -- Bob Mortimer A novelist who gains in range and reputation with every book -- Pat Barker Please, God ... if there's a next life, let me write as well as Jonathan Coe -- Anthony Bourdain Splendidly disturbing -- Anita Brookner on The House of Sleep Wonderful storytelling -- Paul Merton on The Rotters' Club An insightful and moving story about how memories can or cannot be passed down through the generations -- Kazuo Ishiguro on Mr Wilder and Me A sustained feat of humour, suspense and polemic, full of twists and ironies -- Hilary Mantel on What a Carve Up! Astute, enlightened ... Both moving and funny. As we'd expect from Coe -- Ben Elton on Middle England Probably the best English novelist of his generation -- Nick Hornby Coe is among the handful of novelists who can tell us something about the temper of our times * Observer * Coe shows an understanding of this country that goes beyond what most cabinet ministers can muster . . . he is a master of satire but pokes fun subtly, without ever being cruel, biting or blatant . . . his light, funny writing makes you feel better * Evening Standard * Coe has huge powers of observation and enormous literary panache * Sunday Times * British novelists love to diagnose the state of the nation. Few do it better than Jonathan Coe, who writes with warmth and subversive glee about social change * Spectator * Few contemporary writers can make a success of the state of the nation novel: Jonathan Coe is one of them * New Statesman *