Features dreamy teenager Karim, desperate to escape suburban South London and experience the forbidden fruits which the 1970s seem to offer. When the unlikely opportunity of a life in the theatre announces itself, Karim starts to win the sort of attention he has been craving - albeit with some rude and raucous results.

A BELOVED CLASSIC - WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ZADIE SMITH

'A naughty, bubbly book.'
ZADIE SMITH

'Wickedly funny.'
NEW YORK TIMES

'Utterly irreverent and wildly improper, but also genuinely touching and truthful.'
SALMAN RUSHDIE

'My name is Karim Amir, and I am an Englishman born and bred, almost.'

As the teenage hero of Hanif Kureishi's debut novel, Karim is desperate to escape suburban South London and experience the forbidden fruits which the 1970s seem to offer. When the unlikely opportunity of a life in the theatre announces itself, he starts to win the sort of attention he has been craving, albeit with some rude and raucous results.