Michael Frayn

Yes, and there's a Cyrillic section here.

We had the complete works of Shakespeare, which I think my father must have won in a competition or something, but he didn't go in much books.

That was about it.

Really?

I'm not sure I can remember any other books.

No, I had quite a lot of books, but I don't think my parents did.

Well, we lived in the suburbs in Yule, which is not all that far from here, the other side of Kingston.

My father was a rep for a firm that made asbestos building components.

And he always said he thought he could get me into the firm to train as a rep.

I would have been the worst rep in the world.

Also, it turns out that the asbestos industry was a rather less secure form of living, even than literature.

Yes, he used to bring samples home and I used to saw them up and fill the air with asbestos last.

And about 15 years ago, my sister got a mesothelioma, which is the

cancer of the lung lining, specifically associated with asbestos.

And the only asbestos she could remember being exposed to was the stuff that I was sewing up in the garden.

That's terrible.

And it comes on often very, very late, often after 20, even 30 years.

Yes.

I just remember we were all about to go out to a party to celebrate either fireworks night or VJ Day, I can't remember which one.

And she was walking across a room downstairs and she had a heart attack and dropped dead halfway across the room.