One minute with... Marlon James

His Novel ‘A Brief History of Seven Killings’ is shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2015

Marlon James displays huge inventiveness with 'Black Leopard, Red Wolf' (Courtesy of Riverhead Books)

Where are you now and what can you see?

My living room, watching the sunrise and humming INXS’ “New Sensation” where Michael Hutchence sings the “sun comes out like a god into our room.”

What are you currently reading?

The Oresteia by Aeschylus. Nobody has ever grasped the full reality of human behaviour better than the ancient Greeks, which is why I always return to Greek drama. Greek heroes could be spectacularly flawed – irredeemably so by our standards – in ways that modern society would never have been able to cope with. I’m also reading lots of crime fiction, Tana French and Denise Mina in particular and, weirdly enough, scripts for TV shows that I haven’t actually watched, like Breaking Bad and Sons Of Anarchy.

Choose a favourite author and say why you admire her/him.

Richard Powers. He usually gets lumped in with the metafiction crowd but unlike his peers, Powers is capable of breaking your heart. The Time Of Our Singing was the last time a novel left me in tears, devastated.

Describe the room where you usually write

A Brief History Of Seven Killings was written in cafes all over Minneapolis. Not wishing to repeat that feat, I have finally got an office. Four green walls, two windows and a rickety air conditioner. It’s been a month now and I’m still waiting for that first sentence.

Which fictional character most resembles you?

I would say Harry Haller [from Steppenwolf]. In fact, I once put the book down because it had a near irrefutable argument for suicide. But then I turned 20.

Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

I too am falling for this Pope.

Marlon James’s ‘A Brief History of Seven Killings’ is shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2015