Serious Men
| Author | Manu Joseph |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction Humour |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | 2010 |
| Publication place | India |
| Media type | Print (paperback, hardback) |
| Pages | 310 |
| ISBN | 8172238525 |
Serious Men is a 2010 drama fiction novel written by journalist Manu Joseph. The story follows Ayyan Mani, a middle-aged Dalit working as an assistant to a Brahmin astronomer at the Institute of Theory and Research in Mumbai. He lives in a slum with his wife and a son. Furious at his situation in life, Ayyan develops an outrageous story that his 10-year-old son is a mathematical genius – a lie which later gets out of control.
It won the inaugural The Hindu Literary Prize and the 2011 PEN Open Book Award. It was also shortlisted for Man Asian Literary Prize and Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize.