Welcome back Steve Toltz, the author that swept everyone I know into a state of joy and parental upheaval with his debut novel, A Fraction of the Whole. Of course, Toltz has not stopped writing since that 2008 novel, and I have lapped up every offering with relish. But this, his new novel, is a return to his scathing, epically proportioned reflection on modern life. You will laugh aloud as you recognise the insidious madness of what is happening.

Rusty Wilson is our antihero, and he is navigating the terrain of life with a sinking feeling. His wife has left him, his twin sister does not want to know him, his parents are living separately in nursing homes, he is beset with financial troubles, and his job has gone to an AI tool. Of course, there is hope. And love and redemption as well, because how else would we laugh if there were not? It is a wild ride, but Rusty Wilson has form.

It’s a difficult novel to describe, but here is my best shot: take a Jim Jarmusch film (say, Coffee and Cigarettes), plonk it with a Samuel Beckett play (Happy Days?) and mix it well with our own (and missed) John Clarke’s humour (The Games) and you are getting close to how outrageously absurd and humane this novel is. It is satirical, it is painful, and it is us – all of us. Get your hands on a copy and read it in one weekend. It will help with Monday, I promise.

Rusty Wilson for PM.