*My name is Karim Amir, and 1 am an Englishman bom and bred, almost ..:

The hero of Hanif Kureishi's debut novel is a dreamy teenager, of indeterminate sexual preference, who is desperate to escape the drear clutches of suburban South London and taste all the forbidden fruits which the 1970s seem to offer. Karim's own family provide him with some unusual examples of rebellion against the norm - from his philandering, yoga-loving father Haroon to his fiery cousin Jamila, who is being pressed into an arranged marriage. But it is Charlie, the aspirant-rock-star son of Haroon's mistress, who really fires Karim's imagination - not to mention his loins. And it's the unlikely opportunity of a life in the theatre which enables Karim to win the sort of attention he has been craving - albeit with some rude and raucous results.

One of the best comic novels of growing up, and one of the sharpest satires on race relations in this country, that Tve ever read. Independent on Sunday.