I wouldn't describe myself as a master of anything.

People in London think of London as the center of the world, whereas New Yorkers think the world ends three miles outside of Manhattan.

I was once hired to write a column for 'The Guardian' and then got fired before I'd submitted my first one. That was unusual. Most newspapers wait until I've written at least one piece for them before firing me.

I expect that in 40 years' time I'll be writing political tomes and working for an organisation like Oxfam.

I've never been to a shrink. But my parents were very psychologically literate - my father had undergone Freudian analysis - and we often talked about other people in psychological terms, so I picked up a lot of that.

I miss being fawned over by restaurateurs and chefs.

I tried being a mechanic and I tried catering, but I realized I had even less aptitude for semi-skilled labour than for academic work.