Man on Fire, Stephen Kelman's follow-up to his Man Booker Prize-shortlisted Pigeon English, is a peculiar novel, the story of an Englishman named John Lock who, after receiving a cancer diagnosis, leaves his job and his wife to seek out a minor celebrity in India named Bibhuti Nayak. Bibhuti, who dictates some chapters from his own zen perspective, has made a name for himself by setting unusual records such as "43 kicks to the unprotected groin in one minute and a half" and "31 water melons dropped on stomach in one minute from height of 10m." He has achieved a guru-esque status thanks to these bizarre feats and his teachings advocating self-improvement. Lock arrives in India with an offer to help Bibhuti complete his next record attempt and ends up facing a crisis of conscience when Bibhuti's attempt reveals itself to be potentially life threatening.
Perhaps even odder than the premise is Kelman's approach to the story. The character of Bibhuti, an addendum reveals, is based on a real person, and many of the feats described in the book are based on actual records he set. This might explain why Kelman does not take an overtly humorous approach to the material, treating Bibhuti's painful search for transcendence with respect and compassion instead of ridicule. What on paper looks like a humorous book with a silly premise is better described as a melancholy commentary on the extreme lengths to which people can go to find inner peace. Man on Fire is thoughtful, occasionally funny and highly original. --Hank Stephenson, bookseller, Flyleaf Books