Philip Hensher was born in 1965 in London, where he still lives. He worked as a House of Commons Clerk between 1990 and 1996. His novels include The Mulberry Empire, The Northern Clemency, Scenes from Early Life and To Battersea Park. He has won or been shortlisted for the Somerset Maugham Award, the Ondaatje Prize and the Man Booker Prize, among others. In 2026 his A History of the Novel in Britain will be published by Penguin.