What one word would describe you?
Open

What do you fear the most?
Being foolishly open: to too many people, too many crazy ideas

What is your greatest regret?
Not being a long-distance runner. When I was 8 my parents signed me up for boarding school in Eldoret, in the Kenyan Highlands, where many runners train. At the last minute, they changed their mind. So who knows?

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Yellow rice and chicken curry

On what occasion do you lie?
When the Wife tries on new clothes

Who or what is the greatest love of your life?
The Wife. Followed by yellow rice and chicken curry

What is your most marked characteristic?
Being stingy with myself. I recently tried giving away my last pair of running shoes. Even the beggars outside the gate didn’t want them

Choose a movie title for the story of your life.
My Life as a Dog

What is your greatest extravagance?
My Nano car. (You wouldn’t laugh if you saw the state of my previous car, a Datsun 120Y from 1980)

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Naivety

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Trickiness

What do you wish you had right now?
The Gratiaen Prize, you fool! I’ve been shortlisted 4 times, but never won.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“I’m so thrilled that the best man won!”

What is your current state of mind?
Just finished my new book, The Ceaseless Chatter of Demons, so I’m floating

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My chicken legs

What is your motto?
If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly. (And I seriously mean this)

What was one of your life-changing moments?
When my first book, Colpetty People, got published

If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?
Something obscure like Saroj Sinnetamby or Suresh Mudalnayake

If you could eliminate one weakness or limitation in your life, what would it be?
Being left-handed. We die ten years earlier than you lot

What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
Use my left hand of course

What life lesson did you learn the hard way?
When you’re up, everyone loves you. When you’re down, nobody gives a toss

What was your favourite food as a child?
Need you ask? Yellow rice and chicken curry

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
Well, not a chicken obviously