Will Self is the author of four collections of short stories (the first of which, The Quantity Theory of Insanity, won the 1992 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Award), five novels (of which How the Dead Live was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel of the Year in 2002), and four non-fiction works. He is a regular broadcaster on television and radio and as a journalist a contributor to a plethora of publications. He lives in London with his wife and four children.

When the young Ian Wharton first meets Mr Broadhurst, he is completely unaware of the influence he will come to exert over his life as 'The Fat Controller' - a constant companion and confidant and also the obese, erudite manifestation of Ian's mental illness. As Ian's idea of fun becomes increasingly extreme, the reader is taken to a place where morality is eroded by the dull grind of modernity and everything becomes admissable.

'This is a brilliant first novel, obscene, funny, opulently written, and, of course, agonisingly moral'

'No one else I can think of writes about contemporary Britain with such elan, energy and witty intelligence. Rejoice'

'Written with diabolical gusto and skill'

'Vastly entertaining'

Will Self's provocative, shocking and completely unique novel of psychosis and contemporary malaise