WINNER OF THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION Michael Beard is a Nobel prize-winning physicist whose best work is behind him. A compulsive womaniser, Beard finds his fifth marriage floundering. But this time it is different: she is having the affair, & he is still in love with her. When Beard`s professional & personal worlds collide in a freak accident, an opportunity presents itself for Beard to extricate himself from his marital mess, reinvigorate his career & save the world from environmental disaster. Ranging from the Arctic Circle to the deserts of New Mexico, this is a story of one man`s greed & self-deception; a darkly satirical novel showing human frailty struggling with the most pressing & complex problem of our time.