Our man in Havana

Set in pre-revolutionary Cuba, this darkly comic thriller follows Jim Wormold, a struggling British vacuum cleaner salesman recruited by the Secret Service. Short on real intelligence but eager for the extra income, he begins fabricating reports and inventing agents—only to find that his fictions take on a dangerous life of their own. What starts as farce gradually tightens into suspense as the consequences of deception escalate. Blending satire, espionage, and moral inquiry, the novel skewers bureaucratic absurdity and the self-importance of intelligence agencies while exploring themes of loyalty, responsibility, and unintended consequences. Written by one of the twentieth century’s major novelists, known for his “entertainments” that combine wit with moral depth, this is a sharp, clever, and enduringly relevant tale of lies that become truth.