Russian is – and will remain – the language of his fiction. Photograph: conversation is in Russian, the language of his parents and of about a third of Ukrainians, because he is tired of speaking English. “I thought I’d lost my sense of humour,” he laughs, “but I was doing a public event last night and I found myself improvising all these sad jokes … Once the adrenaline gets going, you get your sense of humour back.” We meet at a cafe in north London, where the owner is very excited to serve someone from Ukraine and wants to express tearful admiration and bestow extra baklava, saying: “The Ukrainian people are an inspiration to us all!” Kurkov beams in response (“I know! My son can make a molotov cocktail! I’m so proud!”), even though this is a conversation he must now endure with every new non-Ukrainian he meets, as will probably be the case for the rest of his life. Kurkov does not appear unhappy to be a spokesman for the nuances of an entire culture, and he comes across as optimistic, motivated even. And a conviction that it is possible to fight against a force of evil that is bigger than you are.”

And you just have to keep on living and do whatever you can in the circumstances. “But then you just adapt to it psychologically. “At the beginning, you’re in a state of shock,” he says. They all found themselves surprised at how quickly you adapt to the worst circumstances. They are volunteering: working with refugees, teaching English. His English wife, Elizabeth Sharp, a teacher, is there, as are two of his three adult children. I guess you could call it Russian roulette Andrey Kurkovīut he has no intention of leaving Ukraine and tells me that he will be returning home in a few days. You’re supposed to go down to the shelters, but not everyone does. According to Nielsen Book data, sales of his books in translation in the UK are up more than 800%.

He has a weekly slot on BBC Radio 4 – Letter From Ukraine, a personal account of his daily life. He has invitations to speak all over the world, in person and on Zoom. As Ukraine’s most famous and successful living writer (he has been described as “the Ukrainian Murakami”) – and the writer most translated into English, not to mention more than 30 other languages – suddenly, he is in demand at the worst time and for the worst reasons. Over the past month, Kurkov, 60, has found himself in an unusual and unexpected position. Photograph: Mykhaylo Palinchak/SOPA Images/Rex/Shutterstock The remains of a shopping centre in Kyiv.

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