Selected by the New Yorker as one of the twenty best writers under the age of forty, Chang-rae Lee teaches creative writing at Princeton University and is the winner of numerous accolades and awards including the PEN/ Hemingway Award.

Being a solo flyer made sense to Jerry Battle right from the start. For his 56th birthday, his longtime (and recently ex-) girlfriend Rita Reyes had given him a gift certificate for a flying lesson. Once Jerry was up there he thought everything looked perfect.

But everything isn't perfect and for such a nice guy, Jerry could wreak an amazing amount of havoc ...

Life is about to deal Jerry Battle his toughest hand yet. With his ailing father yearning to flee his Care Centre and his son teetering on bankruptcy, and, for once, no woman in his life to rely on, Jerry's daughter is about to bestow on him a father's worst nightmare. But maybe Jerry Battle needs to finally work out what it is that separates him from his loved ones and be tugged back to earth to engage with one of the most compelling and unforgettable of family dramas.

'Chang-rae Lee's third novel utterly fulfils his promise as a writer ... the story's power is truly remarkable ... it is one of the best novels I've read this year. Don't miss it '

'The prose Lee writes is elliptical, riddling, poetic - beautifully made'

'Jerry Battle is a suburban American Everyman who appears to have more in common with the protagonists of John Updike or Richard Ford ... Subtle and tender'

'Beautifully written ... there is a great deal to admire in Aloft. The author has a keen sense of the eerie confluence of beauty and vacuity in suburban America, especially when glimpsed from a safe distance'

From a master storyteller comes an unforgettable family drama and a stunning twenty-first century American novel