Interview with Brian Hennigan

The Scheme of Things is, like Patrick Robertson, a rare thing in fiction - a comic novel and it's been said that in comparison to TV and films, humour in fiction is under-represented. Who or what are your influences in that respect?

CHARLES DICKENS, GRAHAM GREENE, JOHN CHEEVER, JOHN IRVING and TOM WOLFE show that in any life there are moments of tragedy and hilarity, be it objective or subjective. Our own lives, normally, tell us the same. Far too many authors seem only capable of rendering the glum and as such foisting wholly unrealistic depictions of life. No wonder book sales are declining.

In The Scheme of Things, the characters of Pommy and Genevieve are ruthless types but there is a sneaking sympathy for them too. What were you trying to do with these characters?

Ruthless people are compelling, just as anyone who is focussed on a deed or series of self-centred deeds is compelling. What matters with such characters is that they become sympathetic through knowledge – I would hope that all my characters have an underlying humanity, even if they themselves try to choke it to death.

Your observations on people and relationships, whether business or personal, are very sharp and are sometimes very unexpected in the midst of the comedy. Is there a serious side or emotional resonance in what you want to say through the books?

Life is complex. Literature should reflect this. Most people contain a multitude of intense, occasionally conflicting, occasionally contradictory emotions and reasons. Why do people who go on diets stop? Why do parents who want their children to be happy stop them making choices that would make them happy? Why will many, many people who think the Labour government's Iraq policy immoral vote Labour as soon as they have another chance? Simplicity is for children's books.

The world of business doesn't feature very often as a setting in fiction. How did you come to ground your novels in that world?

I am fortunate that my background is in corporate business – automotive, then textiles, then spirits, then property – Anyone who has worked in business knows that this is a rich, under-explored world with far more interesting characters, events, situations and humanity than is commonly believed. I like the possibility of showing this.

Do you see an evolution in your own work?

I would hope so but who wouldn't?

Do you see yourself as a Scottish author with the kind of background and tradition that implies?

I am more than happy to be illuminated by the torch that passed from Walter Scott to Robert Louis Stevenson to John Buchan.

How did you get started in your writing career?

I always wrote. My first novel was picked off the unsolicited manuscript slush pile at Jonathan Cape.

Can you describe your latest project?

The arts seems full of people who can blabber for Britain about what they are working on, with far too little of such work ever coming round the mountain, let alone living alone up to the puff. I relish every opportunity not to become such a person.