• 4 June, 2.30pm (The Closed Circle)
• 5 June, 10am (9th and 13th)

• 30 May, 7.05pm Channel 4
  Jonathan Coe debates the future of the British novel with Julian Barnes and Kazuo Ishiguro.

Introduction »
The Accidental »
The Closed Circle
Cloud Atlas »
How We Are Hungry »
The Lemon Table »
Never Let Me Go »
Blink »
Chernobyl Strawberries »
Fear: A Cultural History »
The World Is Flat »

Jonathan Coe's much-loved The Rotters' Club, about a group of school friends in 1970s Birmingham, was successfully adapted for television last year – though the series lacked the ambition and complexity of the novel. The Closed Circle, now out in paperback, catches up with the characters, who are now 40-something and pursuing their ambitions, loves and secrets in New Labour Britain. Coe's satirical deftness has a dark tinge as he makes events from The Rotters' Club reverberate through his characters' later lives.

At this year's festival Coe is also launching 9th and 13th, a collection of short pieces of fiction and non-fiction, published as part of Penguin Books' 70th-anniversary celebrations.

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Coe's new novel is a sequel to his bestseller The Rotters' Club