Heart-rending and darkly comic, V.S. Naipaul's A House for Mr Biswas has been hailed as one of the twentieth century's finest novels, a classic that evokes a man's quest for autonomy against the backdrop of postcolonial Trinidad. Mr Biswas has been told since the day of his birth that misfortune will follow him – and so it has.

Meaning only to avoid punishment, he causes the death of his father and the dissolution of his father. Wanting simply to flirt with a beautiful woman, he ends up married to her. But in spite of his endless setbacks, Mr Biswas is determined to achieve independence, and so he begins the gruelling struggle to buy a home of his own.

Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.