I listen to Radio 4 all the time. I didn't go to university, so that's my further education.

To be honest, my husband and my children are my best friends.

I use my awards as doorsteps. Others are in the office or in little cubbyholes in our library – they go between the books, because they actually look like arty pieces

As I've got older, I feel more confident in my body, so wouldn't want to tamper with it.

My own parents were very un-neurotic, so I never thought that I had to change enormously in order to become a parent.

I spent my teenage years in Paris when my dad was stationed there, and I'd look at women in their forties and think, 'That's the age I want to be.'

People who are exceptionally intelligent are often lonely because there are few people as intelligent as them. I have two little children and everyone says: 'I hope they're doing well in school. I hope they're bright.' And I think: why would anyone want their children to be the brightest? Academia is a lonely world.