The Black Album, by Hanif Kureishi

Shahid, a clean-cut young man from the provinces, has come to London after the death of his father. He plans to further his education in the usual way, but when he meets Deedee Osgood, the college lecturer who teaches Prince and Lacan, his world is turned upside down.

Shahid's academic prospects take another turn for the worse when Chili, the gangster brother with a taste for Armani suits and Gucci loafers, moves into Shahid's bedsit, on the run from his enemies.

The Black Album is set in the London of 1989, the year the Berlin Wall came down and the year of the fatwah. It is a thriller with a background of raves, ecstasy, religious ferment and sexual passion.

Shahid, caught between liberalism and fundamentalism, in love with Deedee Osgood but also impressed by the arguments of Riaz and Strapper, has to find his place in the world and come of age. He does so in a way that is both moving and entertaining. The Black Album is a tour de force of argument and observation.