Michael Frayn Books

In Noises Off Michael Frayn creates an ingenious play-within-a-play farce. The on-stage play is a dreadful bedroom farce called Noises On in which scantily clad young ladies are being chased in and out of continually opening and slamming doors by old men. The backstage farce develops during the play's final rehearsal and tour as the characters make their exits from Noises On only to find themselves making entrances into the even worse nightmare going on backstage and then have to go back again on stage to Noises On . In the end the two farces can be kept separate no longer, and coalesce into one single collective nervous breakdown.

The two old friends, both nuclear scientists, found themselves on opposite sides in a world war, and Heisenberg's intentions on that visit, for good or for evil, have long intrigued and baffled historians and scientists.".

First published in 1974 and republished following the success of Frayn's masterly work of philosophy, The Human Touch, Constructions is a dazzling, thought-provoking and fascinating book which explores some of the great problems in philosophy and of everyday life.

'Michael Frayn's tremendous play is a piece of history, an intellectual thriller, a psychological investigation and a moral tribunal in full session' Sunday Times 'A profound and haunting meditation on the mysteries of human motivation' Independent 'Frayn has seized on a ral-life historical and scientific mystery. In 1941 the physicist Werner Heisenberg, who formulated the famous Uncertainty Principle about the movement of particles, and was at that time leading the Nazi's nuclear programme, went to visit his old boss and mentor, Niels Bohr, in Copenhagen. What was the purpose of his visit to Nazi-occupied Denmark? What did the two old friends say to each other, particularly bearing in mind that Bohr was both half-Jewish and a Danish patriot?... Frayn argues that just as it is impossible to be certain of the precise location of an electron, so it is impossible to be certain about the workings of the human mind... What is certain is that Frayn makes ideas zing and sing in this play' Daily Telegraph

Signed and dedicated to the title page by the author. 'To Jackie and Turner with Best Wishes From Michael Frayn'. Includes several pages of stills from the film starring John Cleese

A striking new repackaged edition of Michael Frayn's Booker shortlisted comedy thriller, set in the world of fine art.

Three political parties, in and out of bed with each other like drunken intellectuals, fifteen warring cabinet ministers, and sixty million separate egos. All making deals with each other and breaking them. All looking round at every moment to see the expression on everyone else's face. All trying to guess which way everyone else will jump. All out for themselves and all totally dependent on everyone else. Not one Germany. Sixty million separate Germanies. The tower of Babel! Set in West Germany in 1969, Democracy follows Willy Brandt as he begins his brief but remarkable career as the first leftofcentre Chancellor for nearly forty years. Always present but rarely noticed is Günter Guillaume, Brandt's devoted personal assistant and no less devoted in his other role, spying on Brandt for the Stasi.Published to tie in with major new production at the Royal National Theatre directed by Michael Blakemore starring Roger Allam, Conleth Hill, Nicholas Blane, Jonathan Coy, Christopher Ettridge, Paul Gregory, Glyn Grain, Steven Pacey and David Ryall.

A unique memoir of a lifetime's friendships - from one of Britain's most beloved literary companions.

Set in the sixties, this novel features Dyson, a Fleet Street journalist stuck in a sleepy newspaper department, covering nature notes and crosswords. He dreams of liberation and recognition and wants to appear on television.

He knows everything about her before they meet; more about her nine novels that she does herself. He has devoted his life to studying and teaching them, even though he is four times as clever as she is. Now, as she steps off the train, arriving to do a lecture for his students, something about her in the flesh sets him thinking. Maybe he has a chance to resolve the one remaining mystery at the heart of things . . .

"In the peaceful Close, the only visible signs of war are the nightly blackout and a single random bombsite. To the boys, though, the whole district is riddled with secret passages, underground laboratories, and hideaways for secret agents that must be monitored. And then, with six shocking words, Keith reveals that the Germans have infiltrated his family; from that point, the espionage game takes a sinister and unintended turn. A wife's simple errands and a family's ordinary rituals, the unremarkable geography of post office and railway tracks, are no longer the objects of childish speculation but the tragic elements of adult catastrophe."--BOOK JACKET.

The author of award winning novels (such as Spies), plays (Copenhagen and Noises Off) and films (Clockwise) here produces his first work of non-fiction, one which explores all of the ideas behind his brilliant, funny and hugely popular work.

Uncumber lives in a dystopian world where all humanity is divided in two - the Insiders and the Outsiders. The Insiders are privileged, with their every need catered to by somatic drugs, three-dimensional holovision and prolonged life. Uncumber lives in this luxurious world and is told that she must never go out into the dust and disease of the real world. Uncumber, however, is haunted by a restless and inquisitive spirit. When she falls in love with an Outsider, she decides to go exploring. . . Michael Frayn is the award-winning author of Headlong, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Spies, which won the Whitbread Best Novel Award, and Skios, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize. 'A fairy tale of the future. . . Frayn handles his observations and inventions brilliantly' Guardian

Anything but analogue, Magic Mobile is the latest offering of comic genius from Michael Frayn, the author of Matchbox Theatre and Pocket Playhouse. 'Michael Frayn is the most philosophical comic writer - and the most comic philosophical writer - of our time.' Daily Mail

Martin Clay, a young would-be art historian, suddenly sees opening in front of him the chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to perform a great public service, and at the same time to make his professional reputation - perhaps even rather a lot of money as well. Thus he finds himself drawn step by step into a moral and intellectual labyrinth. Headlong was shortlisted for the 1999 Booker Prize.

On the sunlit Greek island of Skios, the Fred Toppler Foundation's annual lecture is to be given by Dr Norman Wilfred, the world-famous authority on the scientific organisation of science. He turns out to be surprisingly young and charming - not at all the intimidating figure they had been expecting.

Am William Morris Institute für Automationsforschung hat man eine bahnbrechende Idee: warum nicht Computer darauf programmieren, all die lästigen Aufgaben zu erledigen, die den Menschen wie Mühlsteine um den Hals hängen? Gesagt, getan. Die neuen Maschinen verfassen Romane, schreiben Zeitungsmeldungen und texten vollautomatisch Gebete. Auch die »Ethik-Abteilung« ist kräftig involviert: Kann man eine Maschine bauen, die eine ethisches Verhaltensmuster entwickelt? Und natürlich dient alles einem höheren Zweck: Die Menschheit soll endlich in die Lage versetzt werden, sich mit ganzer Kraft den wahren Herausforderungen des Lebens zu widmen … wie zum Beispiel dem bevorstehenden Besuch der Königin im Institut.

Michael Frayn hat ein sensationell erfolgreiches Theaterstück über den geheimnisvollen Besuch Werner Heisenbergs bei Niels Bohr im besetzten Kopenhagen geschrieben. Eines Tages erhält er mysteriöse Papiere zugeschickt, die angeblich aus Farm Hall stammen, dem Ort, wo die Engländer die deutschen Atomphysiker nach dem Krieg interniert hatten. Was sich anhört wie die Anleitung zum Aufstellen einer Tischtennisplatte, gibt, so mutmaßt Frayn, womöglich Hinweise auf den Bau einer Atombombe! Es beginnt ein unglaubliches Schelmenstück über die Verquickung von Fiktion und Wirklichkeit, über Täuschen und Getäuschtwerden.

Was macht das Leben eigentlich schön, muß sich der Ministerialbeamte Brian Jessel fragen, als ein ganz besonderer Fall auf seinem Schreibtisch landet und in seine sonst so ereignislose Existenz mächtig Bewegung bringt. Mit Humor und liebevoller Freude am psychologischen Detail erinnert der britische Autor Michael Frayn an die Lektion, die uns das Leben längst erteilt hat: Wenn man nur will, kann man vom grauen Alltag abheben - und auf der Sonne landen.

Ein Mitarbeiter des Nobelpreiskomitees versucht verzweifelt, die frohe Botschaft zu überbringen. Ein Kontraphonspieler will im hintersten Orchestergraben seinen Einsatz bei Takt 973 keineswegs verpassen, und Lady Hillarye und Sir Geoffrye verbringen streitend ihre letzte Ruhe in einer Gruft. Michael Frayn ist ein Meister britischen Humors und sein Streichholzschachteltheater bietet eine vergnügliche Show in 30 zündenden Unterhaltungen und Monologen, die nur darauf warten, im kleinsten Theater der Welt, in Ihrer Phantasie, aufgeführt zu werden. Frayn bietet die Vorlage, Sie sorgen für Getränke und Eiscreme. Und ein kurzweiliger unterhaltsamer Abend ist garantiert.