Atomised by Michel Houellebecq

First UK edition of Michel Houellebecq’s classic, published by William Heinneman, London, in 2000 and translated by Frank Wynne (published concurrently in the US as ‘The Elementary Particles’). The book is about two half-brothers living sad, lonely and monotonous lives devoid of love, and the idea that humanity is only just particles in the end. It is the work that propelled the author to French and international fame and, later, notoriety. Fine.