From John Murray's press release:

Roland Philipps of John Murray is delighted to have acquired British Commonwealth (excluding India) rights in a sparklingly original debut novel, SERIOUS MEN, and Manu Joseph's next book.  The titles were acquired at auction from Isobel Dixon of Blake Friedmann.

SERIOUS MEN is a poignant and comic tale of science, dreams and hope.   Ayyan Mani works in the Institute of Theory and Research as a lowly personal assistant to a brilliant, insufferable astronomer, Arvind Acharya, who is obsessed with his theory about microscopic aliens falling to earth.  Partly to entertain himself, partly to cheer up his work-worn wife, partly to bolster his ten-year-old son's confidence, Ayyan weaves an outrageous fiction around the boy, Adi, setting in motion a chain of events he will not be able to stop.

Manu Joseph is deputy editor and Mumbai bureau chief of OPEN Magazine, a national news magazine recently launched in India. He was earlier National Features Editor of the largest newspaper in the country and one of the largest in the world, The Times of India. He has been writer-at-large for Wired's website, wired.com, and written for the Independent.  In 2007 he became a Chevening Scholar, an annual British Government award for twelve journalists who will shape opinions in the future. The award came with a three-month stay in London.

Roland Philipps, Managing Director of John Murray, says: 'From the moment of starting to read about Ayyan Mani, who will be remembered as one of the great anti-heroes, the Institute, those that work there, and Mani's son, I was captivated by this novel.  The assurance, wit, and compelling storytelling make this a debut to treasure, and the book will take its place amongst the great comic novels that through the comedy shine a light on their times.'

Manu Joseph says, 'I am delighted with the outcome of the auction, and to be on the roster of a publisher who is so untiringly described through superlatives that at times I did think 'distinguished' was part of the John Murray trademark. That my debut novel will be published by the very house that has published Lord Byron, Charles Darwin, Jane Austen, and the literary hero of many young Indian writers, Amitav Ghosh, is a privilege. In John Murray, SERIOUS MEN has found a dream home.'

John Murray will publish SERIOUS MEN in the late spring of 2010.

For more information about Manu Joseph, click here.