It is the not-so-distant future, and in the belligerent wannabe superpower that is India, Para, a tomboyish fighter pilot, flies sorties against the Pak-Saudi alliance. She has been trained to kill, to be a deadly instrument for the military ambitions of an ultra-modern, ultra-competitive state. And yet it is less than a hundred years since her smart, sarcastic, principled grandparents met on a non-violent demonstration against British rule in Ahmedabad, falling in love as they were trampled by the mounted police. Their only son, Paresh, grows up to drift through life, torn in different directions all at once, though he does produce an entirely spirited, directed daughter, Para.

How did India get to Para from her grandparents? And what happened to the generation in between, of Paresh and his peers? Moving between crowd scenes and midair battles, between sexual farce and social embarrassment, Joshi maps the arcs made by these four striking characters, by the family they make up, and by their country, across a complex and confused century.

Joshi's writing is sharp, loose, fluent and varied. The Last Jet-Engine Laugh is a novel that is jaded and yet principled, ribald and yet serious, vigorous and yet sensitive. It feels authentic, considered and moving at all times. It marks the arrival of a writer whose prose is as fresh, as surprising and as distinctively original as any to come out of India in the last two decades.

ABOUT RUCHIR JOSHI

Ruchir Joshi is a filmmaker and writer. Born and raised in Calcuatta, he now lives in Delhi. This is his first book.

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