Michael Beard is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist (a nd compulsive overeater) whose best wo r k is behind him. Trading on his reputation, he speaks fo r eno r mous fees, lends his name to the letterheads of renowned scientific institutions, a nd halfheartedly heads a government-backed initiative tackling global warming. Meanwhile, Michael’s fifth marriage is floundering due to his incessant womanizing. When his professional a nd personal wo r lds collide in a freak accident, an oppo r tunity presents itself fo r Michael to extricate himself fr om his marital problems, reinvigo r ate his career, a nd save the wo r ld fr om environmental disaster. But can a man who has made a mess of his life clean up the messes of humanity? A complex novel that brilliantly traces the arc of one man’s ambitions a nd self-deception, Solar is a startling, witty, a nd stylish new wo r k—Ian McEwan at his finest.