Current favourite author: usually whoever I'm reading at the time but probably Gore Vidal. Or Michael Connelly. Or Nabokov. Or Ian Rankin. Or Will Self. Or Mikhail Bulgakov. Or W.G. Sebald. Or...you see how it goes? Favourite author of all time: Italo Calvino. Unquestionably. Favourite books: a houseful. Anything by Calvino, obviously, but especially the Castle of Crossed Destines and Cosmicomics; the Hitchhiker's Guide series; I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan (major recommendation: everyone must read this book); 1984; Heart of Darkness; Jane Eyre; Robert Frost's poetry; Mrs. Dalloway; The Big Sleep; Keats' poetry; Collected Stories of T. Coraghessan Boyle; and a bunch more stuff that slips my mind at the moment.