The brief and frightening reign of Phil - George Saunders

Welcome to Inner Horner, a nation so small it can only accommodate one citizen at a time.

The other six citizens must wait their turn in the Short-Term Residency Zone of the surrounding country of Outer Horner. But when Inner Horner suddenly shrinks, forcing three-quarters of the citizen then in residence over the border into Outer Horner territory, the Outer Hornerites declare an Invasion in Progress - having fallen under the spell of the power-hungry and demagogic Phil.

So begins The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil. Fuelled by Saunders's unrivalled wit, outlandish imagination and incisive political sensibility, this is a deeply strange yet strangely familiar fable of power and impotence, justice and injustice.

The novella is followed by In Persuasion Nation, a collection of stories by turns touching, funny and sad, set in a warped, hilarious, yet very recognisable American landscape.