The author on getting hooked on Flann O’Brien, reassessing Kingsley Amis, and why his grandfather was outraged by Watership Down

My earliest reading memory
Not my earliest reading memory, exactly, but my earliest memory of reading with avid enjoyment: The Three Investigators mysteries, a series of kids’ books about three juvenile detectives operating in far-off California (impossibly glamorous to me at the time) under the benign direction of Alfred Hitchcock, of all people. I devoured the first 12 in the franchise.

My favourite book growing up
Like everybody else growing up in the 1970s, I had a copy of Watership Down by Richard Adams on my bedroom shelves – it was the law. I did love it, though. Whatever fondness I have for the English countryside probably comes from that book. I remember my grandfather – a real country dweller – seeing me reading it and being outraged. “A book about rabbits?” he shouted. “They’re vermin!”

The author on getting hooked on Flann O’Brien, reassessing Kingsley Amis, and why his grandfather was outraged by Watership Down

My earliest reading memory
Not my earliest reading memory, exactly, but my earliest memory of reading with avid enjoyment: The Three Investigators mysteries, a series of kids’ books about three juvenile detectives operating in far-off California (impossibly glamorous to me at the time) under the benign direction of Alfred Hitchcock, of all people. I devoured the first 12 in the franchise.

My favourite book growing up
Like everybody else growing up in the 1970s, I had a copy of Watership Down by Richard Adams on my bedroom shelves – it was the law. I did love it, though. Whatever fondness I have for the English countryside probably comes from that book. I remember my grandfather – a real country dweller – seeing me reading it and being outraged. “A book about rabbits?” he shouted. “They’re vermin!”

The author on getting hooked on Flann O’Brien, reassessing Kingsley Amis, and why his grandfather was outraged by Watership Down

My earliest reading memory
Not my earliest reading memory, exactly, but my earliest memory of reading with avid enjoyment: The Three Investigators mysteries, a series of kids’ books about three juvenile detectives operating in far-off California (impossibly glamorous to me at the time) under the benign direction of Alfred Hitchcock, of all people. I devoured the first 12 in the franchise.

My favourite book growing up
Like everybody else growing up in the 1970s, I had a copy of Watership Down by Richard Adams on my bedroom shelves – it was the law. I did love it, though. Whatever fondness I have for the English countryside probably comes from that book. I remember my grandfather – a real country dweller – seeing me reading it and being outraged. “A book about rabbits?” he shouted. “They’re vermin!”

Fires are burning across NSW, with Tasmania also facing an emergency, while in US, Washington state braces for floods

Bushfires have been ravaging Australia, with more than 50 burning throughout New South Wales, destroying homes and resulting in at least one death. Nine blazes remained out of control on Monday as flames ripped through homes and critical infrastructure. Scorching temperatures – peaking at 41C in Koolewong – combined with fierce, erratic winds to spread the fires rapidly and made them harder to control.

On Sunday night an Australian firefighter was killed after a tree fell on him while he worked on a fireground near Bulahdelah, about 150 miles (250km) north of Sydney. The blaze scorched 3,500 hectares (8,600 acres) and destroyed four homes over the weekend. NSW, one of the nation’s most fire-prone regions, is particularly vulnerable because of its hot, dry climate and vast eucalyptus forests, which shed oils that become highly flammable.

Fires are burning across NSW, with Tasmania also facing an emergency, while in US, Washington state braces for floods

Bushfires have been ravaging Australia, with more than 50 burning throughout New South Wales, destroying homes and resulting in at least one death. Nine blazes remained out of control on Monday as flames ripped through homes and critical infrastructure. Scorching temperatures – peaking at 41C in Koolewong – combined with fierce, erratic winds to spread the fires rapidly and made them harder to control.

On Sunday night an Australian firefighter was killed after a tree fell on him while he worked on a fireground near Bulahdelah, about 150 miles (250km) north of Sydney. The blaze scorched 3,500 hectares (8,600 acres) and destroyed four homes over the weekend. NSW, one of the nation’s most fire-prone regions, is particularly vulnerable because of its hot, dry climate and vast eucalyptus forests, which shed oils that become highly flammable.

Fires are burning across NSW, with Tasmania also facing an emergency, while in US, Washington state braces for floods

Bushfires have been ravaging Australia, with more than 50 burning throughout New South Wales, destroying homes and resulting in at least one death. Nine blazes remained out of control on Monday as flames ripped through homes and critical infrastructure. Scorching temperatures – peaking at 41C in Koolewong – combined with fierce, erratic winds to spread the fires rapidly and made them harder to control.

On Sunday night an Australian firefighter was killed after a tree fell on him while he worked on a fireground near Bulahdelah, about 150 miles (250km) north of Sydney. The blaze scorched 3,500 hectares (8,600 acres) and destroyed four homes over the weekend. NSW, one of the nation’s most fire-prone regions, is particularly vulnerable because of its hot, dry climate and vast eucalyptus forests, which shed oils that become highly flammable.

Ineffective systems culminated in serious case of Covid fraud that left UK taxpayers £800,000 out of pocket

Nationwide has been fined £44m by the City watchdog over “weak” financial crime controls that culminated in a serious case of Covid fraud that left UK taxpayers £800,000 out of pocket.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined the building society for failures stretching over nearly five years. It said the lender had been aware that some customers were using personal accounts for business activity, in a breach of its own terms.

Ineffective systems culminated in serious case of Covid fraud that left UK taxpayers £800,000 out of pocket

Nationwide has been fined £44m by the City watchdog over “weak” financial crime controls that culminated in a serious case of Covid fraud that left UK taxpayers £800,000 out of pocket.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined the building society for failures stretching over nearly five years. It said the lender had been aware that some customers were using personal accounts for business activity, in a breach of its own terms.

Ineffective systems culminated in serious case of Covid fraud that left UK taxpayers £800,000 out of pocket

Nationwide has been fined £44m by the City watchdog over “weak” financial crime controls that culminated in a serious case of Covid fraud that left UK taxpayers £800,000 out of pocket.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined the building society for failures stretching over nearly five years. It said the lender had been aware that some customers were using personal accounts for business activity, in a breach of its own terms.