Miller, Andrew

(British, 1960– )

Miller's three novels to date have been extravagantly praised for their lucid prose, sensuous imagery, and accomplished grasp of narrative. Ingenious Pain (1997) concerns James Dyer, born with a freakish inability to feel pain or emotion, progressing through society in search of his own humanity. Casanova (1998) finds the great lover in London in 1763, frustrated by the young Marie Charpillon but enjoying the friendship of Dr Johnson. Both are richly entertaining evocations of the eighteenth century with much convincing period detail. Oxygen (2001), short-listed for the Booker Prize, has a contemporary setting, with two linked narratives. In one, conflicting sons nurse their dying mother; in the other, an émigré writer, haunted by his part in the 1956 Hungarian uprising, becomes involved with Balkan politics. The book again explores Miller's previous concerns with purpose in human lives, and mortality.

Graham Swift, Rose Tremain  JS