Skios- Michael Frayn

All those names held up by drivers at the airport..

Supposing you picked one that didn't belong to you?

Arriving on the Greek island of Skios to spend a few stolen summer days with someone else's girlfriend, Oliver Fox discovers that she's missed her fight, and that he has twenty-four long hours to kill by himself. In the arrivals hall, he sees the name Dr Norman Wilfred' being held up. It's a temptingly possible substitute - so Oliver steps into the life of Dr Wilfred.

On the same fight is the real Dr Wilfred, who has come to give a lecture to a distinguished international audience. By the time the wrong Dr Wilfred is on his way to give the right Dr Wilfred's lecture, and the right Dr Wilfred is installed in the wrong Dr Wilfred's love-nest, Oliver's original date has found a flight after all and is stepping off a plane herself..

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize

A transfixingly witty novel about riding one's luck and being undone by it. Financial Times