British journalist John Lanchester has written articles for Granta and the New York Review of Books among other publications. Capital is the latest of his four novels and comes close on the heels of his second non-fiction work, Whoops!: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay, which explained the recent global financial crisis. Capital is a GFC novel as it centres on the inhabitants of a London street during the first year of the crisis. The author introduces us to the various characters and as we delve into their back stories all is not what it seems on the surface.

Roger, for example, has a good job in the city, a wife and two kids but is really struggling financially, which has put pressure on his marriage. Shahid and Ahmed are brothers who run a newsagent but clash because they have completely different world views. Freddy Kino is a football sensation who has just moved into the street with his father Patrick from Senegal to be near his new London Club; the transition is difficult for both of them.

Many migrants make a big city what it is, whether it’s Melbourne, New York or London. The friction and constant tugging and exchange of ideas are a stimulant. The author conveys both the personal struggles and the nation’s financial struggles. ‘We want what you have’ is the message dropped anonymously into the residents’ letterboxes, as if their lives are all linked together because they live on an affluent street. Many questions are asked by the author as he tries to give a rounded vision of a global community. Capital may well be a novel talked about for many years to come.

Michael Awosoga-Samuel is from Readings Carlton