Kleinzeit

This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book.

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

On an ordinary day in a strangely unfamiliar London, Kleinzeit is fired from his advertising job and told he must go to hospital with a skewed hypotenuse. There on Ward A4, he falls in love with the divine, rosy-cheeked Sister and is sent spinning into a quest involving, among other things, a glockenspiel, sheets of yellow paper, Orpheus, the Underground and that dirty chimpanzee, Death.

'Kleinzeit, is a sort of holy fool, a fierce, lonely intelligence desperately trying to make sense of a hopeless world. A tour de force ... entirely delightful' Auberon Waugh, Evening Standard

'An original ... a delight to read' The Times

© Russell Hoban 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critics Review

  • A very funny quest for creativity and sanity … There are no boring sentences in a Hoban novel.

    The Times
  • Russell Hoban is one of our greatest, timeless novelists.

    The Times
  • Masterly … a mosaic in which each tiny fragment of wit or dirt or profundity has its appointed place.

    Times Literary Supplement
  • A second tour-de-force… entirely delightful.

    Evening Standard
  • Brimming with humanity and humour… brilliant handling of language.

    Glasgow Herald
  • Russell Hoban is our Ur-novelist, a maverick voice that is like no other.

    Sunday Telegraph

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to get tailored content recommendations, product updates and info on new releases. Your data is your own: we commit to protect your data and respect your privacy.