Armed only with a counterfeit 100-Euro note, Ajatashatru the fakir, renowned conjurer and trickster, lands in Paris. His mission? To acquire a splendid new bed of nails. His destination? IKEA.

And there he decides to stay, finding an obliging wardrobe in which to lay his head. Only when he emerges from his slumber does he discover that he is locked in, unable to free himself and heading for England in the back of a truck.

So begins a magnificent and bizarre adventure for the intrepid fakir. Even while he flees the revenge-crazed taxi driver whom he conned on his arrival, and falls further in love with Marie Riviere, the Parisian beauty whom he tricked into lunching with him, he finds time to befriend a group of Sudanese immigrants, travel to Italy in a suitcase, write a novel on a shirt, and fly to Libya in a hot air balloon.

Witty, moving, surprising and joyful, this novel reminds us that heroism abounds, and is to be found in the most unlikely of places.

Translated by: Sam Taylor