Transmission

Hari Kunzru

I had planned to kick off my review of Transmission by saying firstly it isn't one of those long dreary Anglo-Indian sagas so beloved of Booker judges. Except last week I discovered Paul Scott's wonderful Staying On which is almost the archetypal Indian-flavoured Booker winner. More on that another time. But, certainly, Transmission is something else entirely.

Although it's only partly set in India two of its three core characters are Indians. They are Arjun Mehta a computer programmer whose transfer to Silicon valley in California hasn't worked out the way he hoped and Leela Zahir, Bollywood actress, who lights up the screen when she dances and who has unresolved issues with her mother. The third character is Guy Swift, a marketing executive who, while clearly ghastly (his pitch to the European Border Police sees Europe as an upmarket brand, its slogan "Europe: No Jeans, No Trainers") becomes more endearing as his personal and professional life disintegrates around him. Cause of Guy's problems is a computer virus. Infected screens show a tiny dancing Indian figure: a pixellated version of Leela. Arjun is implicated, then disappears.

It's an excellent read. Salman Rushdie for the Melissa generation. Arundhati Roy for people who enjoyed Microserfs. And what's more, the Seattle Times agrees with me.