Most Popular Books by Aravind Adiga

Welcome to Kittur, India. It''s on India''s southwestern coast, bounded by the Arabian Sea to the west and the Kaliamma River to the south and east. It''s blessed with rich soil and scenic beauty, and it''s been around for centuries. Of its 193,432 residents, only 89 declare themselves to be without religion or caste. And if the characters in Between the Assassinations are any indication, Kittur is an extraordinary crossroads of the brightest minds and the poorest morals, the up-and-coming and the downtrodden, and the poets and the prophets of an India that modern literature has rarely addressed. A twelve-year-old boy named Ziauddin, a gofer at a tea shop near the railway station, is enticed into wrongdoing because a fair-skinned stranger treats him with dignity and warmth. George D''Souza, a mosquito-repellent sprayer, elevates himself to gardener and then chauffeur to the lovely, young Mrs. Gomes, and then loses it all when he attempts to be something more. A little girl''s first act of love for her father is to beg on the street for money to support his drug habit. A factory owner is forced to choose between buying into underworld economics and blinding his staff or closing up shop. A privileged schoolboy, using his own ties to the Kittur underworld, sets off an explosive in a Jesuit-school classroom in protest against casteism. A childless couple takes refuge in a rapidly diminishing forest on the outskirts of town, feeding a group of "intimates" who visit only to mock them. And the loneliest member of the Marxist-Maoist Party of India falls in love with the one young woman, in the poorest part of town, whom he cannot afford to wed. Between the Assassinations showcases the most beloved aspects of Adiga''s writing to brilliant effect: the class struggle rendered personal; the fury of the underdog and the fire of the iconoclast; and the prodigiously ambitious narrative talent that has earned Adiga acclaim around the world and comparisons to Gogol, Ellison, Kipling, and Palahniuk. In the words of The Guardian (London), "Between the Assassinations shows that Adiga...is one of the most important voices to emerge from India in recent years." A blinding, brilliant, and brave mosaic of Indian life as it is lived in a place called Kittur, Between the Assassinations, with all the humor, sympathy, and unflinching candor of The White Tiger, enlarges our understanding of the world we live in today.

Originally published: Great Britain: Picador, 2016.

Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2008 Meet Balram Halwai, the ''white tiger'': servant, philosopher, entrepreneur, murderer Born in a village in the dark heart of India, the son of a rickshaw puller, Balram is taken out of school and put to work in a teashop. As he crushes coal and wipes tables, he nurses a dream of escape. His big chance comes when a rich landlord hires him as a chauffeur for his son, daughter-in-law, and their two Pomeranian dogs. From behind the wheels of a Honda, Balram sees Delhi and begins to see how the Tiger might escape his cage. For surely any successful man must spill a little blood on his way to the top? The White Tiger is a tale of two Indias. Balram''s journey from the darkness of village life to the light of entrepreneurial success is utterly amoral, brilliantly irreverent, deeply endearing and altogether unforgettable.

The magnificent new novel from the million-selling Booker Prize-winning author of The White Tiger: one of the most eagerly anticipated literary novels of 2011--"a kaleidoscopic portrait of a changing Mumbai." — Guardian (Best Books of 2011) Ask any Bombaywallah about Vishram Society--Tower A of the Vishram Co-operative Housing Society--and you will be told that it is unimpeachably pucca. Despite its location close to the airport, under the flight path of 747s and bordered by slums, it has been pucca for some fifty years. But Bombay has changed in half a century--not least its name--and the world in which Tower A was first built is giving way to a new city; a Mumbai of development and new money; of wealthy Indians returning with fortunes made abroad. When real estate developer Dharmen Shah offers to buy out the residents of Vishram Society, planning to use the site to build a luxury apartment complex, his offer is more than generous. Initially, though, not everyone wants to leave; many of the residents have lived in Vishram for years, and many of them are no longer young. But none can benefit from the offer unless all agree to sell. As tensions rise among the once civil neighbours, one by one those who oppose the offer give way to the majority, until only one man stands in Shah''s way: Masterji, a retired schoolteacher, once the most respected man in the building. Shah is a dangerous man to refuse, but as the demolition deadline looms, Masterji''s neighbours--friends who have become enemies, acquaintances turned co-conspirators--may stop at nothing to score their payday. A suspense-filled story of money and power, luxury and deprivation, and a rich tapestry peopled by unforgettable characters, not least of which is Bombay itself, Last Man in Tower opens up the hearts and minds of the inhabitants of a great city--ordinary people pushed to their limits in a place that knows none. This eBook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.

An “urgent and significant book [that] speaks to our times” (The New York Times Book Review) from the bestselling, Man Booker Prize–winning author of The White Tiger and Selection Day about a young illegal immigrant who must decide whether to report crucial information about a murder—and thereby risk deportation. Danny—formerly Dhananjaya Rajaratnam—is an illegal immigrant in Sydney, Australia, denied refugee status after he fled from Sri Lanka. Working as a cleaner, living out of a grocery storeroom, for three years he’s been trying to create a new identity for himself. And now, with his beloved vegan girlfriend, Sonja, with his hidden accent and highlights in his hair, he is as close as he has ever come to living a normal life. But then one morning, Danny learns a female client of his has been murdered. The deed was done with a knife, at a creek he’d been to with her before; and a jacket was left at the scene, which he believes belongs to another of his clients—a doctor with whom Danny knows the woman was having an affair. Suddenly Danny is confronted with a choice: Come forward with his knowledge about the crime and risk being deported? Or say nothing, and let justice go undone? Over the course of this day, evaluating the weight of his past, his dreams for the future, and the unpredictable, often absurd reality of living invisibly and undocumented, he must wrestle with his conscience and decide if a person without rights still has responsibilities. “Searing and inventive,” Amnesty is a timeless and universal story that succeeds at “illuminating the courage of displaced peoples and the cruelties of those who conspire against them” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis).

Der Roman zur gleichnamigen Netflix-Verfilmung! Balram Halwai – der «weiße Tiger» – erzählt uns mit unwiderstehlichem Charisma die schreckliche und zugleich faszinierende Geschichte seines unwahrscheinlichen Aufstiegs und beleuchtet dabei schonungslos die Abgründe der modernen indischen Kastengesellschaft. Balram kommt aus einem armen Dorf im Herzen Indiens. Seine düsteren Zukunftsaussichten hellen sich auf, als er, der klügste Junge im Dorf, als Fahrer für den reichsten Mann am Ort engagiert wird und die Chance bekommt, für dessen Sohn in Delhi zu arbeiten. Hinter dem Steuer eines Honda City entdeckt Balram – und wir mit ihm – eine neue Welt. Balram sieht, wie seinesgleichen, die Diener, aber auch ihre reichen Herren mit ihrer Jagd nach Alkohol, Geld, Mädchen und Macht den Großen Hühnerkäfig der indischen Gesellschaft in Gang halten. Durch Balrams Augen sehen wir das Indien der Kakerlaken und Call Center, der Prostituierten und Gläubigen, der alten Traditionen und der Internetcafés, der Wasserbüffel und des mysteriösen «weißen Tigers». Im Verlauf von sieben Nächten und in der Form eines Briefes an den chinesischen Ministerpräsidenten erzählt uns Balram von seiner Flucht aus dem Hühnerkäfig, dem Sklavendasein – eine Flucht, die ohne List und Blutvergießen nicht möglich ist. Eine Geschichte voll sprühendem Witz, Spannung und fragwürdiger Moral, erzählt in einem unnachahmlichen Ton. Keine Saris, keine exotischen Düfte und Gewürze, keine Tabla-Musik und Maharadschas – dies ist das Indien von heute. Und mehr als das. In seiner Kritik am Sklavendasein ist es ein Angriff der dritten auf die erste Welt. Amoralisch und respektlos, anrührend und absolut zeitnah – «Der weiße Tiger» ist ein aufregender, provozierender Roman mit Kultstatus. Ein moderner Klassiker, dessen Verfilmung durch Rami Bahrani zuletzt für großes Aufsehen gesorgt hat.

Eine Geschichte um Geld und Macht, Luxus und Entbehrung, ein breites Gemälde der Menschen in Bombay und nicht zuletzt das Porträt einer brodelnden Stadt - "Der letzte Mann im Turm" wirft einen tiefen Blick in die Herzen und Köpfe der Bewohner einer Mega-City - einfache Menschen, die an einem Ort ohne Grenzen bis an ihre Grenzen getrieben werden. Wen man in Bombay auch nach der "Vishram Society" fragen würde Turm A der "Vishram Cooperative Wohnungsbaugesellschaft" -, jeder würde sagen, dass diese Wohnanlage in der Nähe des Flughafens und am Rande von Slums dennoch eine gute Adresse ist. Aber nicht nur Bombay hat sich in den letzten fünfzig Jahren verändert - und heißt jetzt Mumbai -, auch der Immobilienmarkt - überall in Mumbai wird abgerissen, Neues gebaut und viel frisches Geld ist in Umlauf. Als der Immobilientycoon Dharmen Shah den Bewohnern von Vishram Society das Angebot macht, sie rauszukaufen, damit er einen Luxusapartment-Komplex errichten kann, ist sein Angebot mehr als großzügig. Aber nicht jeder ist bereit, auszuziehen und dafür viel Geld mitzunehmen, das Angebot gilt jedoch nur, wenn alle zustimmen! Die Anspannung steigt unter den Bewohnern, und einer, der pensionierte Lehrer Masterji, einst am meisten respektiert, ist nun das Hindernis für diesen Deal. Shah ist ein gefährlicher Gegner, aber auch alte Freunde können zu Feinden werden...

"Goda bostäder åt goda indier" står det på skylten utanför torn A i Vishram Society, den som avtäcktes på premiärminister Nehrus födelsedag. Över femtio år har gått, och trots att Bombay blivit ett annat står tornet kvar. Inklämt mellan flygplats och slum, fläckat av regnvatten och mögel. Men kanske inte länge till. Mark är en bristvara, och fastighetsmogulen Dharmen Shah vill riva och bygga nytt. En stor summa pengar erbjuds de boende i de kooperativt ägda bostadsrätterna. Men för att försäljningen ska gå igenom måste samtliga säga ja. En efter en låter de sig övertalas. Till slut finns det bara en man som envist vägrar ge med sig, den pensionerade läraren Masterji som nyligen blivit änkling. Att han varit en respekterad man i huset glömmer grannarna snabbt. Han står ju i vägen för deras rikedom och lycka. En enda fråga återstår: Hur långt är grannarna beredda att gå?

En indisk forretningsdrivende sender en række breve til den kinesiske præsident i anledning af dennes besøg i Bangalore, og i dem fortæller han om sit liv, der har formet sig som en både komisk, tragisk og amoralsk rejse ind i det nye teknologifikserede Indien.

Romance vencedor do Man Booker Prize de 2008. Livro que inspirou o filme da Netflix Numa história irônica e divertida, o protagonista de O tigre branco relata o trajeto bastante inusitado que percorreu para subir na vida e conseguir se tornar alguém importante no cenário nacional: assassinar seu patrão. Em cartas dirigidas ao primeiro-ministro chinês, Balram Halwai revela uma visão crítica aguçada da sociedade indiana e do mundo contemporâneo, e justifica seu crime classificando-o como um "ato de empreendedorismo". O leitor vai se surpreender a cada passo do romance de estreia do jovem autor indiano Aravind Adiga, vencedor do Man Booker Prize 2008, um dos maiores prêmios da literatura. Não sem motivo, O tigre branco foi considerado pelos jurados um livro de imenso valor literário e extremamente original, por apresentar aspectos da Índia normalmente ignorados e personagens que revelam um lado humano desconcertante.