Thompson’s debut novel, longlisted for this year’s Man Booker prize, contains ten apparently unconnected stories about a constantly changing city or cities.The author teaches English at St Anne’s College, Oxford, which could perhaps be one or more of his university cities — were it not for the quayside and the strange dystopian names. For example, one of the detectives in a Sherlock Holmes-style chapter, The Significant City of Lazarus Glass, is a Professor of Ratiocination at the unnamed university.

Each story is told by a different character, in a different linguistic style. At first there seems no linking theme — the connections appear only if you are paying attention. One is the Flâneur, a lost soul who wanders the city. But to hear his story is to go insane, we learn.

The stories are beautifully written but I’ve no idea what it all means — perhaps each reader must draw their own conclusion.

Last year’s Booker judges said they were basing their choice on “readability” but this year’s choice includes some more experimental novels, including this one.

Dr Thompson is up against some stiff competition, including Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel’s sequel to the best-selling Wolf Hall. We will discover more on September 11, when the shortlist is announced. This year’s judges include Bharat Tandon, a former Oxford academic and regular fiction reviewer; and Amanda Foreman, who used her Oxford doctoral thesis for her biography of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire. On October 15, the evening before the winner is announced, a Booker shortlist event will be transmitted live to the Phoenix Cinema in Walton Street, Oxford, from the Royal Festival Hall, London.