I think trying to be cool is the worst possible ambition - and I have never suffered from it.

I loved writing 'Two Brothers' more than anything else I have written. It's the first book I've written that I've always known I wanted to write. Having said that, it also kept me awake at nights.

Yes, OK, farty is a silly word. I wish I'd never used it. I'm 34. Perhaps it was a word for my 20s.

I see dull people as projects ... to be reformed

I try hard not to preach, but I get carried away, which is a mistake, but it's a risk worth running.

People who get through life dependent on other people's possessions are always the first to lecture you on how little possessions count.

I resent the creation of a world in which beauty is a reminder of what we're losing rather than a celebration of what we have.