Adam Mars-Jones's first book of stories, Lantern Lecture, was published in 1981 and won a Somerset Maugham Award. In 1983 and again in 1993 he was named one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists, despite not having produced a novel at the time. His Zen status as an acclaimed novelist without a novel was dented by the appearance of The Waters of Thirst, and only suffered further with the appearance of Pilcrow, described by Margaret Drabble as 'one of the most remarkable novels I have read in recent years', followed by Cedilla and Caret, all published by Faber. Meanwhile, two novellas appeared with Fitzcarraldo, BOX HILL, which won the Fitzcarraldo Novel Prize in 2019 and is going to be made into a film by Harry Lighton, and BATLAVA LAKE (2021). His memoir KID GLOVES was published by Particular Books in 2015 and NORIKO SMILING, an appreciation of Ozu, acclaimed master of Japanese cinema. He regularly reviews for the Observer and the LRB.
