From “one of the brightest, most pleasure-giving writers at work today” (Jeffrey Eugenides) comes a comic tale of casual barbarism, dangerous lunacy, and accidental authority.

In the winter of 1884, the great colonial powers meet in Berlin. The order of the day: how to divide up the vast continent of Africa between them. For Legation Counsellor Strinetzky though, a minor Austrian diplomat drafted in to the conference so his superior can spend the day practicing for a piano recital, this day of grand global diplomacy is a backdrop to personal crises. His marriage is edging towards the point of no return. He’s embroiled himself into a career-ending expenses scandal. And, more worryingly, a petty slight to a Prussian soldier has landed him in a pistol duel scheduled for the very next morning.

As the leaders of European imperialism bargain and allocate, their allegiances to each other constantly shifting and the political game ever more trepidatious, Strinetzky will be relieved to make it through the next two days alive, if not with honour intact. But, as it turns out, much more is riding on Strinetzky’s hapless maneuverings than his own life.

In Afrika, Daniel Kehlmann lays bare the absurdity and brutality of empire with imagination and deadly wit.