Will Self launches his new novel 'Umbrella' in the first of a series of events curated by him exploring the legacy and provocation of Modernism upon writing today.

Spanning an entire century, 'Umbrella' is a novel of consciousness and life. It charts the story of Audrey Death, who at the end of World War One falls victim to a lethal epidemic, encephalitis lethargic. She is only awoken decades later when Dr Zack Busner discovers a cure.

'In these culturally straitened times few writers would have the artistic effrontery to offer us a novel as daring, exuberant and richly dense as Umbrella.' (John Banville)