John Lanchester

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John Henry Lanchester (born 25 February 1962) is a British journalist and novelist.

Educated at Gresham's School, Holt between 1972 and 1980, Lanchester is the author of three novels: The Debt to Pleasure (1996), Mr Phillips (2000) and Fragrant Harbour (2002).

The Debt to Pleasure won the 1996 Whitbread Book Award in the First Novel category and the 1997 Hawthornden Prize. It was described as a skilful and wickedly funny account of a man's life, revealed through his thoughts on cuisine as he undertakes a mysterious journey around France. The revelations become more and more shocking as the truth about the narrator becomes apparent. He is a monster, and yet an appealing and erudite villain.

Mr Phillips describes one day in the life of Victor Phillips, a middle-aged accountant who has been made redundant, but has yet to tell his family. He spends the day travelling round London, with the narrative dividing itself between reporting Mr Phillips' observations about what he sees, and also exploring his recollections of things in the past, or his own taboo-like preoccupations, with sex and social obligation. The book deals with other male, middle-class concerns, including money, family and getting older.

Lanchester's journalism has appeared in Granta, The Observer, The Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, The New Yorker and the London Review of Books, where he is a Contributing Editor.