Under the Skin by Michel Faber

This month, Book Talk cranks up the heat and settles in for a chat about Michel Faber's creepy sci-fi-meets-horror debut, Under the Skin, soon to be released as a film starring Scarlett Johansson. Joining host Danny Scott are Sarah Stewart, a senior editor at Floris Books, founder of the Lighthouse Children's Literary Consultancy and soon-to-be-published children's author; and Doug Johnstone, novelist, journalist, musician and co-founder of Scotland Writers FC. Under the Skin tells the unsettling story of Isserley, an alien sent to earth to harvest male hitchikers for an intergalactic corporation, which fattens them up and turns them into food. The macabre story is a dark satire on intensive farming, big business and environmental decay, as well as an examination of such issues as sexual identity and humanity. Find out how Faber managed to make Isserley a character readers could empahtize with, which parts our panel found most disturbing and whether they'd recommend the novel to a friend in this spine-tingling podcast. BookTalk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.