His literary ambitions frustrated, Milan Zorec decides to give himself something original to write about. It is 1995, and Zorec heads from London to the black heart of Europe’s most brutal war in half a century, the Bosnia War. There, he joins Serbian militia forces as a sniper, and helps them pick off civilians cowering in the besieged city of Sarajevo. Excited by the violence, seduced by the carnage, intrigued by the lost souls who are his comrades, Zorec manages to find the time to reflect on the power of words, the evils of the literary establishment, and the absurdities of modern culture and warfare.

Alternating between London and Sarajevo, I Hate Martin Amis et al. is a black, black comedy, a very twisted tale, a stunningly unconventional perspective on war crimes. Zorec is disgusting, but he’s also intelligent, eloquent, amusing, even sympathetic. He sees the savagery and madness of those around him but barely glimpses his own journey from dreamer to monster.

A chilling, unforgettable satire, I Hate Martin Amis et al. drills down to the very core of why we write, why we read, and what we might be prepared do to realize our dreams in these strange times