Jonathan Coe (edit name/settings)

English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. He began writing at an early age. His first surviving story, a detective thriller called The Castle of Mystery, was written at the age of eight. The first few pages of this story appear in What a Carve Up.
He taught at the University of Warwick, where he completed an MA and PhD in English Literature.
Coe has long been interested in both music and literature. In the mid 1980s he played with a band (The Peer Group) and tried to get a recording of his music before becoming a published novelist. He had to wait until 2001 to make his first appearance on a record with 9th & 13th (Tricatel, 2001), a collection of readings of his work, set to music by jazz pianist/double bass player Danny Manners and indiepop artist Louis Philippe.