Much of the book is made up of Gayle’s trademark spiralling going-nowhere conversations between bemused friends

Much of the book is made up of Gayle’s trademark spiralling, going-nowhere conversations between bemused friends, and Matt’s e-mail exchanges with Elaine, his ex-but-still-keen girlfriend in New York. The angsty navel-gazing might prove too much for anyone much under, or over 30.He is proud of his position in the market, only three books in. “Women have got Wendy Holden, Kathy Lette, Helen Fielding, Jenny Colgan.. the list is huge. But in terms of fiction for men that’s not just guns blazing or some sort of crime caper gone wrong in East London, there’s just me.” There’s a long pause, while I think: Nick Hornby? Tony Parsons? “And a few others Relationships are my forte One of my favourite authors is Madeleine St John. I’m a huge fan.”As you might expect from someone who has been a journalist, he’s an expert at handling interviews.

I ask him if it’s true that his brother is the news-reader on The Big Breakfast and he just roars: “Ha! Ha! Ha! Yes he is.” No cute anecdotes forthcoming. The only time he fires up is when I ask him, rather mischievously, whether he was invited to contribute to IC3, Penguin’s new anthology of new black writing in Britain. Mischievously, because while the anthology covers everyone from the Benjamins, Floella to Zephaniah, to Jackie Kay, Gayle is not known for his incisive writing on race: in fact, he seems scrupulously to avoid bracketing his characters as anything in particular.For the first time, he looks disconcerted “I was invited to contribute to it,” he says “I was finishing Mr Commitment and I didn’t have the time. And it’s funny, the last couple of weeks I have actually been asked to comment on it on radio and TV and I.. I haven’t done, mainly, erm.. because.. I mean sometimes I couldn’t, I couldn’t… I’m going to finish this sentence in a minute! I just want to get it right.” Deep breath “It’s a valid thing to do. If I’d had the time, I would have contributed and I’ve got no problem with its existence, but I do have a problem with the way that black novelists, to use the term very, very loosely, are treated I’ve consciously not written about race, just because.. I see no reason. It’s a burden that’s put on every single black novelist that’s not put on any white novelist.

They don’t have to explain themselves, or their culture, everything’s taken for granted, even the fact that their characters are white. I’ve sold 200,000 copies of My Legendary Girlfriend with my picture on it. People picked up a book in the knowledge that the writer is black and it hasn’t mattered. And that to me is quite an important achievement.”I think he’s done, but – “You want to write about race, fine.