Ian McEwan runs at the front of the grid with a generation of British novelists who are always mentioned together, and his international reputation sometimes looks like outstripping even theirs. Amsterdam actually won him the Booker prize but he has been short-listed three times and as far as countless readers are concerned he might as well be just given the trophy to take home. Since I first met him, however, I have been able to take his talent for granted without ever quite getting to the heart of his personal mystery, because he doesn't really fit in anywhere except at the top. Instead of the usual Oxbridge route through the educational system, he took the side track that led through the University of East Anglia and a school of creative writing that left the traditional Eng. lit. instruction manual looking a bit clapped out, like a used Empire.

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