Imagine being famous. Wouldn't that be great?

'A real beauty of a book' - Jonathan Franzen
'Riffs echo through this playful, perplexing landscape' - The Times

But what if, one day, you got stuck in a country where no one spoke your language. Where no one knew your face and you had no way of contacting home. How would your fame help you then?

What would happen if someone got hold of your mobile phone? If they spoke to your girlfriends, your agent, your director and started making decisions for you. And when no one believed that you were you any more, when you saw a lookalike acting your roles for you, what would you do?

In this delightfully entertaining book, Daniel Kehlmann throws his characters into situations that are thrilling, funny, surprising and tragic, confirming his place as one of his generation's finest writers.

"One of the most consistently original novelists writing today." - New European

"'Ingenious'" - Daily Telegraph

"'Riffs echo through this playful, perplexing landscape'" - The Times

"'Brilliant'" - Independent

"'A real beauty of a book' " - Jonathan Franzen

"'Kafkaesque' " - Time Out

"'Extraordinary' " - Guardian