Will Self

A unique and controversial figure in British fiction, Will Self is a novelist, short story writer and cultural and political commentator. After a stint as a stand-up comedian and cartoonist for the New Statesman, Self penned The Quantity Theory of Insanity, a collection of short stories which brought him instant acclaim and notoriety in the literary world. Throughout his career Self has proved a divisive author for critics, and his florid style and shocking choices of subject matter have certainly marked him out as a distinctive voice. A Cock and Bull Story, a volume comprising two novellas published in 1992, explored themes of sexual violence, whilst 2002’s Dorian was a drug fuelled reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray transposed to 1980s Soho. More recent publications include the ‘modernist’ trilogy of Umbrella, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Shark and Phone.