Jonathan Coe has taken aim at the absurdity of modern life
Sport
[A] state-of-the-nation address
Independent on Sunday
Undoubtedly a political novel. It is also an interrogation of the purposes and efficacy of humour in exposing society's ills
Guardian
Richly textured
Esquire
What Victorians called a condition of England novel...This ... Read moresequel is a very good book indeed - let's hope that Coe goes for a trilogy
The Times
A richly enjoyable, densely textured and thought-provoking entertainment, Number 11 might not feature in many Kensington mansions, Swiss bolt-holes or private jets this winter. But perhaps it should'
Financial Times
Number 11 is undoubtedly a political novel. It is also an interrogation of the purposes and efficacy of humour in exposing society's ills
Guardian
The country needs Number 11....[Coe's] take-down of modern Britain proves he's still the UK's premiere national lampoon
Stylist
[Coe] has a fine ear for dialogue and mastery of comic plot: this is first-class entertainment
Evening Standard
It's dispiriting that, for a country that prides itself on its sense of humour, Coe has not been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.....Read Number 11 to see what an odd country Britain has become
T2
My first Jonathan Coe book but it won't be the last...gloriously insane...It takes you into another space and time....Very beautiful
Kerry Shale, BBC Radio 4 Coe intriguingly depicts the social grievances of modern Britain
Metro
Coe creeps up stealthily, delivering a book bursting with narrative coups and delicious ironies. Presenting a picture of an ailing country close to collapse, despite the apparent health suggested by its millionaires' mansions and its confidently callous politicians, the book scares rather than laughs us into calling for reform
Literary Review
No modern novelist is better at charting the precariousness of middle-class life
The Observer
A restlessness would overtake me when I was separated from the book
Kit Davis, BBC Radio 4 Jonathan Coe rips into modern celebrity culture and the decadent lives of the super-rich in hs latest satire
Good Housekeeping
An incredibly Dickensian novel...it articulates all kinds of themes that will make the reader feel very angry...I enjoyed it hugely and read it pretty much in a single sitting. Whenever there was an interruption I felt really angry and you can't really ask more from a novel than that...Really satisfying
Tom Holland, BBC Radio 4 He brings us the usual high quotient of jokes, emotional engagement with the characters and commitment to old-school storytelling, complete with narrative twists and thrilling set pieces
The Daily Telegraph
Jonathan Coe has established himself as one of the most entertaining chroniclers of our times. . . He has an enviable lightness of touch and is brilliant at portraying the lunacy of our time, when bankers need iceberg houses and their neighbours need food banks. He is often satirical, always compassionate.
Tatler
Coe's prose is always a delight...hugely enjoyable
Daily Mail
You can't stop reading....I was haunted for days
The Independent
Coe is back doing what he does best. Number 11 is a baroquely plotted, densely allusive, heart-on-his-sleeve, state-of-the-nation satire, an angry and exuberant book....Coe is not just back, but back on top form
Sunday Times
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