Oxygen

In the summer of 1997, four people reach a turning point: Alice Valentine, who lies gravely ill in her West Country home; her two sons, one still searching for a sense of direction, the other fighting to keep his acting career and marriage afloat; and Laszlo Lazar, who leads a comfortable life in Paris yet is plagued by his memories of the 1956 Hungarian uprising. For each, the time has come to assess what matters in life, and all will be forced to take part in an act of liberation - though not necessarily the one foreseen.

“'With Oxygen, Andrew Miller confirms his reputation as one of our most skilful chroniclers of the human heart and mind ... a thoughtful, complex and satisfying work ... its interplay of ideas, its nuance of character and above all its confident sensibility make it a deeply pleasurable read.'”

A writer of astonishing gifts who peels his characters back to the quick with a language that never misses a note . . . his complex characters are unravelled with a depth and elegance that is breathtaking - Irish Times Books of the Year

Confirms his reputation as one of our most skilful chroniclers of the human heart and mind . . . a thoughtful, complex and satisfying work. - Sunday Times

Miller's use of imagery is always unexpected, sometimes astonishing . . . It is also impossible to put down - Independent on Sunday

Miller is a writer of such astonishing prose that wherever he takes his characters they speak a rare emotional truth. - Scotland on Sunday

Highly accomplished . . . Breathe in and enjoy. - Literary Review

[A] beautifully written novel . . . it grabs your attention to the last page. - Daily Express

Andrew Miller was born in Bristol in 1960. His first novel, INGENIOUS PAIN, was published by Sceptre in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, the International IMPAC Award and the Grinzane Cavour prize in Italy. His second novel, CASANOVA, was published in 1998, and OXYGEN, his third, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Whibread Novel Award in 2001. His fourth and most recent novel, THE OPTIMISTS, followed to great acclaim in 2005.

In the summer of 1997, four people reach a turning point: Alice Valentine, who lies gravely ill in her West Country home; her two sons, one still searching for a sense of direction, the other fighting to keep his acting career and marriage afloat; and Laszlo Lazar, who leads a comfortable life in Paris yet is plagued by his memories of the 1956 Hungarian uprising. For each, the time has come to assess what matters in life, and all will be forced to take part in an act of liberation - though not necessarily the one foreseen.

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