Iris Murdoch

Jake, a hack writer and broke, seeks out an old girlfriend, and assumes an acquaintance with Hugo "a philosopher". His meetings with Hugo involve Jake and his companion Finn in a series of adventures.

Under the Net

The sea: turbulent and leaden, transparent and opaque, magician and mother... When Charles Arrowby, over sixty, a demi god of the theatre- director, playwright and actor - retires from his glittering London world in order to `abjure magic and become a hermit', it is to the sea that he turns. He hopes at least to escape from `the woman' - but unexpectedly meets one whom he loved long ago. His Buddhist cousin, James, also arrives. He is menaced by a monster from the deep. Charles finds his `solitude' peopled by the drama of his own fantasies and obsessions.

Matthew Rasnake

Joshua Line

Set in a part of London where struggling writers rub shoulders with successful bookies, and film starlets with frantic philosophers. The hero, Jake Donaghue, is captivated by a majestic philosopher, Hugo Belfounder, whose profound reflections prompt the title - under the net of language.