I listened to the audio version and narration throughout was perfect. Well paced and delivered with just the right tone. This is a novella, The Body and a few short stories by Kureishi. His writing is sparse and in a way simplistic but he packs in so much in terms of considering the human condition. I don’t find him easy to understand first time round and every story is food for thought.

The main story involves a body swap, new for old. But things don’t work out as anticipated. Adam jumps at the chance to swap his ageing body for a younger one. He goes on a hedonistic spree but soon realises that it isn’t what he wants and yearns for his real life. It’s a weird tale which considers whether time or soul is more important, in a rather abstract way. The remaking stories are a mixed bunch, some with a little humour but overall, they’re a bit of an acquired taste and definitely cerebral. I’ve enjoyed this overall, but it’s a work that needs to be revisited to fully appreciate the themes explored and probably better in written format.

What if you could put your brain and all of its memories and knowledge into a new body and live in that body for 6 months before deciding whether you are going to go back to your old body or not? This book explores the opportunities and consequences of having a surgical procedure to transfer brains between bodies via Adam, a playwright struggling with his ageing, failing body who chooses to spend six months in a much younger body.
Speculative fiction isn't my usual genre but this book really did make me think about our relationships with our bodies, how we perceive beauty, the difficulties linked to ageism, hedonism and the value of experience and wisdom.
The book is relatively short and as such doesn't hit the depths of philosophical exploration I felt it could have done given the nature of the material being explored. I was also intrigued by, yet disappointed with the abrupt ending.
Overall a very interesting subject for a book but I was left wanting a bit more.
I am grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced listener copy of this well narrated audiobook.