I'm interested in complexity, in the mathematical sense, as well as the idiomatic sense. The idea of emergence - that it's possible for complex patterns to arise out of many simple interactions - is fascinating.

Suburbia is all about private ownership and not having to share, and it leads to a paranoid, defensive mindset. I know this, having grown up in Essex.

In my early teens, science fiction and fantasy had an almost-total hold over my imagination. Their outcast status was part of their appeal.

I'm fascinated by the emergence of a global class. They're highly mobile; they reject the idea of place.

Intellectuals who live in Hungary, or who wish to work or lecture there, are extremely circumspect in their criticism.

There's an explosion of Indian fiction of all kinds, from military thrillers to chicklit. I think that's exciting.

I enjoy thinking myself into other times and places. I don't like some of the conventions of the 'historical novel', but I think there's a way of doing it that has a lot of merit.