Ah, another list. Another list that makes me feel inadequate, not only because I’m not on it but because I haven’t even read any of the people who are on it. The closest I can get is having seen Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speak at the Southbank Centre.

Is anyone better read than me? Do you have a recommendation on which of the 20 best writers under 40 will indeed be “key to their generation”? The last list, ten years ago, included David Foster Wallace, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Franzen and Jhumpa Lahiri. Which of these do you think will hit similar heights?