Joshua Ferris: Then We Came to the Unnamed

Joshua Ferris, the powerhouse author of scathing office comedy Then We Came To An End, is currently on a visit to the UK to promote his new novel, The Unnamed, a brutal and brilliant psychological study of a man who has an undiagnosable condition to compulsively walk with no control of his legs or direction. Intriguing? Yes, it's a great book, one you should definitely read.

We caught up with Joshua on the eve of his packed trip over here to talk about his longest walk, the book and his plans for the future.

> If you were to describe your new book as a [film] meets [film] pitch eg Alien is Jaws in Space, what would it be?

L’Avventurra + Safe.

> The book hinges on not what is wrong with Tim but how his condition sets off reverberations through his family. Were you worried this might leave readers unsatisfied?

No.

> What's the longest walk you've ever taken?

A 17-mile hike through Pennsylvania forest preserve with my younger brother, who, at the time, needed to be continually entertained, which didn’t comport well with my lack of resources. So I planned a day’s hike without his knowing it – he thought we were going only for a mile or two – with too little liquid and no food, and he justifiably despised me for eight hours or so. Now it’s one of our favourite memories.

> This is quite a tonal shift from your last book, a searing scathing deconstruction of the work place. What inspired you to write The Unnamed?

The sort of sickness described in The Unnamed strips a character bare and reveals the essential matters of life and death, and the essential matters are of much more interest to me than the recurring nightmare of one’s sad childhood or the social pratfalls of late capitalism.

> Are there plans to return to a more comedic pallette?

Not as a matter of principle. When and if the story requires it.

> What are your plans for book 3?

To write it, hopefully, and to be satisfied by the result.

> The Unnamed is part thriller, part family drama and part psychological study, and completely brutal in the process. How did you put these elements together? What was your writing process?

I began the book in the wrong place, set it down for about six months, realized my error, picked it up again, got straight with the details of the invented disease, and thereafter let my intuition lead the way with respect to the book’s direction and conclusion. I worked as I always do: improvisationally, and without an agenda.

> What advice would you give an aspiring writer who wants to write his or her first novel?

Live, but a little less than you write.

> What are you currently reading? Who is your biggest influence as a writer?

I’m reading Louise Gluck’s A Village Life, Salinger’s Nine Stories and The Selected Stories of Alice Munro.

> What music were you listening to when you were writing?

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, David Bowie, Heartless Bastards, M. Ward, Can, TV on the Radio, The Walkmen.

> What's next for Joshua Ferris?

I have to get on a plane in an hour, a puddle jumper with a connecting flight, and I’m dreading it. I hate to fly, in small planes especially, and just hope we make it. Being superstitious, I’ll not risk assuming anything more lies in store.

Hear Ferris reading an extract from the book