Random House is delighted to announce the publication of a new novel by Ian McEwan, Solar.

Solar is an engrossing and satirical novel which focuses on climate change and will be published on 18 March 2010. This story – of one man’s ambitions and self-deceptions – is a stylish new work by one of the word’s greatest living writers.

Michael Beard is in his late fifties; bald, overweight, unprepossessing – a Nobel prize-winning physicist whose best work is behind him. Trading on his reputation, he speaks for enormous fees, lends his name to the letterheads of renowned scientific institutions and half-heartedly heads a government-backed initiative tackling global warming. An inveterate philanderer, Beard finds his fifth marriage floundering. When Beard’s professional and personal worlds are entwined in a freak accident, an opportunity presents itself, a chance for Beard to extricate himself from his marital mess, reinvigorate his career and very possibly save the world from environmental disaster.

Dan Franklin, Publisher, comments: ‘Solar is a novel about one of the most serious threats to our world – global warming – but is also very, very funny. It shows a fresh side to Ian McEwan’s work, that he’s a comic writer of genius.’

Visit your local independent bookshop to order Ian McEwan's books, or purchase them online via Waterstone's, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Borders, Nan A. Talese, Powell's, Jonathan Cape, Vintage, Random House Canada, Random House Australia, localbookshops.co.uk, or from a variety of Independent Booksellers.

Note to Journalists and Reviewers: Publisher publicity contact information is located on the Contact / Publicity page. Please be sure to contact the relevant publisher when submitting your inquiry.