Since his astonishing Academy Award-nominated film, (1985), Hanif Kureishi has been recognized as a major writer who has both documented and profoundly influenced contemporary British culture. His first novel, (1990), remains a key work in redefining our sense of what it means to be English in the postcolonial era. brings together leading scholars of contemporary British fiction and culture to reassess the full range of the author's writings, from novels such as and to films such as . As well as exploring Kureishi's handling of such themes as Thatcherism, terrorism, race, class and sexuality, the book move moves beyond sociological and psychoanalytical approaches, examining the stylistic features of his most recent novel . The volume includes interviews with Stephen Frears, the director of , and with Hanif Kureishi himself, as well as a foreword by Roger Michell, who has directed several of the author's screenplays, most recently .