Armadillo is the classic comic bestseller by William Boyd, author of Any Human Heart



'A young man not much over thirty, tall with ink-dark hair and a serious-looking, fine-featured but pallid face, went to keep a business appointment and discovered a hanged man'



Lorimer Black - young, good-looking, but with a somewhat troubled expression - does not understand why his world is being torn apart, though he does know that for the most part it is made up of bluster and hypocrisy. His business, trying to keep insurance companies from paying out the money they've promised, is a con game run with the protection of the law. One winter's morning, Lorimer goes to keep a perfectly routine business appointment and finds a hanged man. A bad start to the day, by any standards, and an ominous portent of things to come.

Armadillo is a must-read for fans of William Boyd and will also be loved by readers of Sebastian Faulks, Nick Hornby and Hilary Mantel.



'Marvellously paced and ingeniously plotted. A real page-turner' Andrew Motion, Observer



'Armadillo doesn't miss a trick. It has depth and resonance which will make you want to read it again... zinging readability' Philip Hensher, Mail on Sunday



'As entertaining and as thought-provoking as anything Boyd has ever written' Daily Telegraph



William Boyd was born in Ghana, where his father was a doctor, and was educated there and in Scotland. His first novel A Good Man in Africa won both the Whitbread First Novel and Somerset Maugham Prizes, and his subsequent novels have gone onto win many awards. His books include: On the Yankee Station and Other Stories, An Ice-Cream War, Stars and Bars, School Ties, The New Confessions, Brazzaville Beach, The Blue Afternoon, The Destiny of Natalie 'X' and Other Stories, Nat Tate: An American Artist 1928-1960, Any Human Heart, Restless, The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth, Ordinary Thunderstorms, Fascination, Bamboo and Waiting for Sunrise. He divides his time between London and south-west France.