The most English man in Spain

"I had never previously been abroad, nor did I speak the language of my adoptive country. But these were mere bagatelles; of far greater importance was the stuff of which I was made, formidable stuff indeed."

Kenneth Podd is pompous and egotistical. He is also eccentric to the extreme; an ardent supporter of Brexit, he emigrates to Spain shortly after the referendum.Finding the historic town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial a little foreign for his taste, Podd prefers to remain ensconced in his elegant, five-bedroom villa. His only companion is an insufferable one: Hubert, a housefly who materialises at times of stress to take insouciant jaunts around his cranium.

Podd’s seclusion is disrupted when he receives a visit from a dissolute former work colleague. Initially horrified to be witnessing his guest’s lustfulness at close quarters, he is eventually forced to admit that he too has a desire for company. Instantly galvanised, he embarks on a madcap quest for love.

«The most English man in Spain» casts a wry look at the erratic ways and outmoded attitudes of its hapless protagonist. It is Stephen Mackey’s full-length debut following the success of a short-story collection M is for Spain, which describes the real, unreal and surreal experiences of a variety of British expatriates.