In the years following the publication of his debut novel, Remainder (2005), it seemed that Tom McCarthy might decisively shape the course of fiction in the new century. He published combative essays railing against the ‘tired humanist clichés’ of most literary fiction – not for him the ‘intimate thoughts and feelings’ of ‘fully rounded’ characters – and commanded his own avant-garde outfit, the International Necronautical Society. Prolific in manifestos (‘Let us deliver ourselves over utterly to death’) and mischievous public performances, the INS parodied modernist factionalism while attempting to borrow some of its world-remaking energy. McCarthy’s two appearances on the Booker Prize shortlist – for C (2010) and Satin Island (2015) – suggested that mainstream culture might not be all that hostile to his ideas.

In his choice of targets and terminology, McCarthy drew heavily on Alain Robbe-Grillet, the leading practitioner and theorist of the nouveau roman. The French author had urged writers to cast off the sentimental baggage of the traditional novel – all those studies ‘of a passion … in a given