…Remainder by Tom McCarthy.

This is just brilliant and you should either read or listen to it immediately. What excited me the most was a main character I didn’t like. I had no empathy for him, no sympathy and I disliked him way before he allowed cats to die.

I remember ‘doing’ Lord of the Flies in school and Mr Caw explaining the reason Jack was not described in as much detail as the other boys was so the reader could identify with him and walk in his shoes. I have been interested in protagonists that are easier to dislike than like ever since. It is easy to write a ‘bad’ character who no-one will like because of his behaviour, because of his actions, but I like exploring the unlikeable hero.