Penguin to publish 2 new titles by author Anees Salim

Penguin Random House India on Friday announced the acquisition of two new titles by award-winning contemporary writer Anees Salim.

The two new titles, ''The Odd Book of Baby Names'' and ''The Bellboy'', will be published under the Penguin's 'Hamish Hamilton' imprint in 2021 and 2022, respectively, the publishing house said in a statement.

While ''The Odd Book of Baby Names'' is a historical fiction tracing the last days of one of the last kings in India who is rumoured to have fathered more than 100 children, ''The Bellboy'' is a story about a 17-year-old bellboy from an island that's slowly disappearing off the face of earth.

''These two books are entirely different in terms of craft and characterization. While 'The Odd Book of Baby Names' has a historic background and is narrated by multiple voices, 'The Bellboy' is set in contemporary India and tells the story of a boy who is losing his way in the world. As in my previous works, I find a bit of myself in both these books,'' said the author.

Salim's published works include ''Vanity Bagh'' (winner of The Hindu Literary Prize for Best Fiction 2013), ''The Blind Lady's Descendants'' (winner of the Raymond Crossword Book Award for Best Fiction 2014 and the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award 2018) and ''The Small-town Sea'' (winner of the Atta Galatta-Banaglore Literature Festival Book Prize for Best Fiction 2017).

''Anees Salim is among the finest living writers we have in the English language. His wry sense of humour and his razor-sharp wit belie his uncanny understanding of human frailty. He is the master of the tragicomedy, and I can't wait to share his two new books with the world,'', said Manasi Subramaniam, executive editor at Penguin Random House India.

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