Joining John and Andy to explore this austere and powerful novel, first published in German in 1930 as Hiob: Roman eines einfachen Mannes (‘the story of a simple man’) are Keiron Pim, whose much-anticipated biography of Joseph Roth will be published in 2022, and a returning Backlisted guest, bibliomemoirist and playwright Samantha Ellis. Roth was a prolific yet enigmatic writer - his other books include The Radetzky March and The Legend of the Holy Drinker - and this episode takes a long, considered look at his (often chaotic) life and work, and where Job fits into both.

Keiron Pim is an author, freelance journalist and creative writing tutor, whose last book was Jumpin’ Jack Flash: David Litvinoff and the Rock’n’Roll Underworld, the first biography of one of the most extraordinary characters in Sixties London, published by Jonathan Cape in 2016. Previously he wrote a popular science book about dinosaurs, and edited and introduced Into the Light: the Medieval Hebrew Poetry of Meir of Norwich, the first translated edition of poems by a 13th century writer from the city where Keiron lives.

Samantha is the author of a reading memoir, How to be a Heroine, or what I’ve Learned from Reading Too Much and a biography of Anne Brontë called Take Courage. She also writes plays including How to Date a Feminist, which has been produced in London, Gdansk, Mexico City, Istanbul and in several theatres in Germany—in one of which it was staged in a boxing ring.

Also in this episode, Andy shares a reading by Salena Godden from her acclaimed new novel Mrs Death Misses Death, while John is beguiled by the fragmented visions of Max Porter's The Death of Francis Bacon.

Books mentioned:

Jospeh Roth - Job: The Story of a Simple Man; The Radetsky March; The Legend of the Holy Drinker; What I Saw: Reports from Berlin 1920-33
Kieron Pim - Jumpin’ Jack Flash: David Litvinoff and the Rock’n’Roll Underworld'; The Bumper Book of Dinosaurs; Into the Light: The Medieval Hebrew Poetry of Meir of Norwich
Samantha Ellis - How to be a Heroine, or what I’ve Learned from Reading Too Much: Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life; How to Date a Feminist
Max Porter - The Death of Francis Bacon; The Death of Francis Bacon (audio); Lanny
Salena Godden - Mrs Death Misses Death; Mrs Death Misses Death (audio)