An embarrassing mix-up over his name led to unknown writer Amos Kingley's election to the presidency of the World Association of Authors; but it was his previously unrevealed talent for compromise that kept him in the position. He soon runs into deep trouble, however, when the annual WAA congress in Malindi erupts over the issue of the imprisonment of three Malindian writers. While his fellow delegates indulge in the traditional congruence pursuits of drinking, plotting, in-fighting and infidelity, Amos must find a way to appease the warring factions without offending their hosts, and without losing his job. 'Francis King's brilliant comedy will crack the ribs'OBSERVER 'Francis King turns his sense of humour riotously loose at the expense of literary conventions…masking his disgust, born of experience, at the futility and squalour of these charades, he directs his snowball with deadly accuracy, inserting a few razor blades meanwhile.'GUARDIAN 'Brilliantly funny, serious in its muted way, and totally successful in demolishing the humbug, the phony and the inflated.'FINANCIAL TIMES 'A gem – sly humour, uncomfortable truths – it is Mr King's deft evocation of the sense in which people can both despise and need each other that is the abiding memory of the book.'SUNDAY TELEGRAPH