What do you get when you cross Philip Roth with Jonathan Safran Foer and add a touch of grand farce? I Am Max Lamm, of course!

Everyone knows that Jews are no good at sport; they also know that if a Jew was good at sport, they’d muck it up. Max Lamm was good: a clever student, he knew art but he was also very good at tennis (so good that he was to play in the US Open). But then he couldn’t keep himself away from Lagaya, the gorgeous hooker from El Salvador. And one thing led to another and poor Max ended up accidentally hitting a Pakistani teenager too hard when he tried to rob him as he waited for a bus outside Hyde Park. Malik fell, hitting his head and dying. The press called it a race murder and Max … well he went on the lam … in Hyde Park, underneath the barbecue. Briefly Max is saved by an energetic tryst with a rich American and a rediscovery of his Jewish roots, but sadly is undone by greed and betrayal.

All in all, I Am Max Lamm is a hoot; it’s a great debut novel that leaves you wanting to hear more from its author.

Mark Rubbo is Managing Director of Readings.