Where does journalism end and fiction begin, and how will the novel fare in our new technological multiverse? As one of the most eagerly anticipated novels of the new publishing year hits the bookshops, we interview its author John Lanchester about what distinguishes his fictional residents of one south London street in 2007-2008 from the equally fantastical characters of his non-fiction work about the financial crash, Whoops! Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay.
We also talk to publisher Rosalind Porter and writer-provocateur Ewan Morrison about the ever-changing relationship between fiction and non-fiction.
And we travel to China in the imagination of Newsnight economics editor Paul Mason, who has woven a cast of surreal characters around a thrilling plot about the international race for mineral wealth. He explains why the most truthful way of reporting the craziness of contemporary China can sometimes be fiction.
Reading list
Rare Earth by Paul Mason (OR Books)
Capital by John Lanchester (Faber)
Tales from the Mall by Ewan Morrison
Moby Duck by Donovan Hohn (Union Books)
