David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas at 20

The author marks the 20th anniversary of his perfectly poised Rubik’s Cube of a novel, in conversation with Kamila Shamsie.

The bestselling, multi-award-winning novel combines six interlocking lives into one epic adventure, erasing the boundaries of time, genre and language to offer an enthralling vision of humanity’s will to power, and where it will lead us.

When it was first published in 2004, The Guardian called Cloud Atlas ‘a remarkable book’, adding ‘there won’t be a bigger, bolder novel this year.’

The late novelist AS Byatt wrote: ‘David Mitchell entices his readers onto a rollercoaster, and at first they wonder if they want to get off. Then – at least in my case – they can’t bear the journey to end.’

In this London-exclusive event, Mitchell reflects on the life Cloud Atlas has led, including its reception, film-adaptation, and enduring appeal, in a conversation hosted by Kamila Shamsie.

Kamila Shamsie is the author of eight novels including Best of Friends (2022), Home Fire (2018), A God In Every Stone (2014) and Burnt Shadows (2009). She has won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, been shortlisted for several awards including the BBC National Short Story Award, the Costa Prize and the Orange Prize, and has been longlisted for the Booker Prize. She grew up in Karachi and now lives in London.