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Jonathan Coe was born in Birmingham in 1961. He is the award-winning, bestselling author of 14 novels, which include The Accidental Woman, What a Carve Up!, The House of Sleep, The Rotters' Club, The Rain Before It Falls, Expo 58, Middle England, Mr Wilder and Me and Bournville. He has won the Costa Novel Award, the Prix du Livre Europeen, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Prix Medicis tranger and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, among many others. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His work been translated into 22 languages. Suspended Moment, an album of his musical compositions recorded live in Italy, was released on the British Progressive Jazz label in 2023. Jonathan Coe lives in London.
Wonderfully accomplished and darkly funny. The Proof of My Innocence is a murder mystery, a satire on Britain's ever right-ward drift, culminating in Liz Truss; and an inquiry into truth and perception. Jonathan Coe gets better and better -- Luke Harding A brilliant, shrewd, satirical novel – gimlet-eyed, funny, very clever and a searchingly profound look at the state of this strange country of ours. -- William Boyd The premier satirist of great British crapness is on killer form in this gag-a-minute mystery - who but Coe would think to structure a book around the abysmal transport police mantra “See It. Say It. Sorted”? * Observer * Coe channels his anger and frustration at the direction his country has taken, as well as his abiding love for it, into prose of enduring beauty * Guardian * The funniest serious novelist practising in this country * Independent * My comfort read: anything by Jonathan Coe -- Bob Mortimer A novelist who gains in range and reputation with every book -- Pat Barker Please, God … if there’s a next life, let me write as well as Jonathan Coe -- Anthony Bourdain Splendidly disturbing -- Anita Brookner on The House of Sleep Wonderful storytelling -- Paul Merton on The Rotters’ Club An insightful and moving story about how memories can or cannot be passed down through the generations -- Kazuo Ishiguro on Mr Wilder and Me A sustained feat of humour, suspense and polemic, full of twists and ironies -- Hilary Mantel on What a Carve Up! Astute, enlightened … Both moving and funny. As we’d expect from Coe -- Ben Elton on Middle England Probably the best English novelist of his generation -- Nick Hornby Coe is among the handful of novelists who can tell us something about the temper of our times * Observer * Coe shows an understanding of this country that goes beyond what most cabinet ministers can muster . . . he is a master of satire but pokes fun subtly, without ever being cruel, biting or blatant . . . his light, funny writing makes you feel better * Evening Standard * Coe has huge powers of observation and enormous literary panache * Sunday Times * British novelists love to diagnose the state of the nation. Few do it better than Jonathan Coe, who writes with warmth and subversive glee about social change * Spectator * Few contemporary writers can make a success of the state of the nation novel: Jonathan Coe is one of them * New Statesman *
