Expo 58

This novel can be read in a number of ways: as a traditional English ‘comic novel’ in the tradition of Henry Fielding, Michael Frayn and Kingsley Amis; as an hommage to British comedy films of the 1930s, 40s and 50s; as a parody of Cold War spy fiction; and as the latest chapter in an interlocking network of novels and short stories which I’ve been writing for the last two decades. The story centres around a quiet, unassuming but handsome young civil servant, Thomas Foley, who is sent on a six-month assignment to Brussels, scene of the great World’s Fair of 1958. Expo 58 was an important historical event which still occupies a huge place in the collective memory of the Belgian people: the first such event after the Second World War, and a significant milestone in the reconciliation between the warring nations; the beginning of a closer co-operation between the European countries, shortly after the Treaty of Rome had been signed; and a landmark in the development of modern technology and architectural design. At the centre of it all was the Atomium which, since I first visited it in 2010, has become one of my favourite buildings in the world.