Infinite Ground
A luminous debut novel of modern alienation, of the sinister beauty of the human body and of the enduring splendour of the natural world.
During a sweltering South American summer, a family convenes for dinner at a restaurant. Midway through the meal, Carlos disappears. An experienced, semi-retired inspector takes the case, but what should be a routine investigation becomes something strange, intangible, even sinister. The corporation for which Carlos worked seems to serve no purpose; the staff talk of their missing colleague's alarming, shifting physical symptoms; a forensic scientist uncovers evidence of curious abnormalities in the thriving ecosystem of cells and bacteria that made up Carlos's body. As the inspector relives and retraces the missing man's footsteps, the trail leads him deep into the country's rainforest interior, where he encounters both horror and wonder.
INFINITE GROUND was published on 4th August 2016 by Atlantic Books. It was published in the USA in 2017 by Melville House.
"An electrifying piece of work: strange, terrifying, riveting, and written with scintillating intelligence. In its thinking about the porosity between the human and the non-human, it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ballard, Lem, VanderMeer, Tom McCarthy."
- Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of Others
“A stunning debut from MacInnes—a totally original surreal mystery shot through with hints of the best of Cesar Aira, Nabokov, Angela Carter, and Julio Cortazar. Smart, clever, and honest. I doubt you’ve read anything quite like it.”
- Jeff Vandermeer, New York Times bestselling author of 'The Southern Reach' trilogy
“An accomplished debut! It takes risks and challenges the narrative form. A brave new voice — Martin MacInnes is a writer to look out for.”
- Jenni Fagan, author of The Panopticon, one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists 2013
“Here is talent of the first rank, already fully formed. Particularly impressive is the way Martin combines in his writing and thinking a sweeping theoretical, physical and philosophical understanding of the world alongside minute and detailed descriptions of the concerns of everyday human life. The synthesis makes for riveting reading that fulfils the needs of the modern reader: We want to be informed and entertained, I might also say, provoked and enlarged, and Martin MacInnes delivers on all fronts with writing of genuine bravura and originality.”.”
- Christopher Potter, author of You Are Here and How To Make A Human Being, founder of Fourth Estate
“In MacInnes’s hands, the simplest of premises – an investigation into the disappearance of a clerical worker – takes us into the most unexpected territory. This is the work of a most singular and inventive mind, matched by writing with real flair and clarity. It is a book alive with ideas and cock-eyed intelligence, brimming with passages of genuine brilliance. Infinite Ground does that magical thing that only the very best novels do: it makes you see the world afresh. Dazzling stuff.”
- Graeme Macrae Burnet, author of the Booker shortlisted His Bloody Project
“Strange, haunting, dislocating”
- Ian Rankin, bestselling author of the “Inspector Rebus” novels
“Brimming with strong, startling ideas... Remarkable”
- Literary Review
“A novel of intelligence, grace, cunning and warped imagination… MacInnes is one of our most exciting new voices.”
- Stuart Evers, author of Your Father Sends his Love
“Labyrinthine, beautifully written and teeming with ideas… Frighteningly good”
- Lee Rourke, author of Vulgar Things
“Impressive and finely textured... This is fiction as a metaphorical labyrinth of the mind.”
- Edward Docx, Guardian
“a vivid, immersive act of imagination that reads like the best bits of Paul Kingsnorth’s intense interior monologue Beast filtered through Conrad’s Heart of Darkness… the calling card of a deeply serious writer, one ambitious enough to attempt a true novel of ideas, and equipped with the intellectual firepower to pull it off”
- Scotland on Sunday
“[A] brilliant and unpredictable novel… the story reads like out of Kafka, refined by Jorge Luis Borges. There are echoes too of J.G. Ballard’s The Drowned World… unputdownable once you get into it.”
- Library Journal
“Infinite Ground by Martin MacInnes is a dazzling and unsettling kaleidoscope of (sur)realities that redraw the boundaries of the possible. By evoking an epic confrontation between the corporate and the animal, MacInnes explores a myriad of futures for the relationship between human and non-human life forms.”
- Helen Phillips, author of The Beautiful Bureaucrat
During a sweltering South American summer, a family convenes for dinner at a restaurant. Midway through the meal, Carlos disappears. An experienced, semi-retired inspector takes the case, but what should be a routine investigation becomes something strange, intangible, even sinister. The corporation for which Carlos worked seems to serve no purpose; the staff talk of their missing colleague's alarming, shifting physical symptoms; a forensic scientist uncovers evidence of curious abnormalities in the thriving ecosystem of cells and bacteria that made up Carlos's body. As the inspector relives and retraces the missing man's footsteps, the trail leads him deep into the country's rainforest interior, where he encounters both horror and wonder.
INFINITE GROUND was published on 4th August 2016 by Atlantic Books. It was published in the USA in 2017 by Melville House.
"An electrifying piece of work: strange, terrifying, riveting, and written with scintillating intelligence. In its thinking about the porosity between the human and the non-human, it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ballard, Lem, VanderMeer, Tom McCarthy."
- Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of Others
“A stunning debut from MacInnes—a totally original surreal mystery shot through with hints of the best of Cesar Aira, Nabokov, Angela Carter, and Julio Cortazar. Smart, clever, and honest. I doubt you’ve read anything quite like it.”
- Jeff Vandermeer, New York Times bestselling author of 'The Southern Reach' trilogy
“An accomplished debut! It takes risks and challenges the narrative form. A brave new voice — Martin MacInnes is a writer to look out for.”
- Jenni Fagan, author of The Panopticon, one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists 2013
“Here is talent of the first rank, already fully formed. Particularly impressive is the way Martin combines in his writing and thinking a sweeping theoretical, physical and philosophical understanding of the world alongside minute and detailed descriptions of the concerns of everyday human life. The synthesis makes for riveting reading that fulfils the needs of the modern reader: We want to be informed and entertained, I might also say, provoked and enlarged, and Martin MacInnes delivers on all fronts with writing of genuine bravura and originality.”.”
- Christopher Potter, author of You Are Here and How To Make A Human Being, founder of Fourth Estate
“In MacInnes’s hands, the simplest of premises – an investigation into the disappearance of a clerical worker – takes us into the most unexpected territory. This is the work of a most singular and inventive mind, matched by writing with real flair and clarity. It is a book alive with ideas and cock-eyed intelligence, brimming with passages of genuine brilliance. Infinite Ground does that magical thing that only the very best novels do: it makes you see the world afresh. Dazzling stuff.”
- Graeme Macrae Burnet, author of the Booker shortlisted His Bloody Project
“Strange, haunting, dislocating”
- Ian Rankin, bestselling author of the “Inspector Rebus” novels
“Brimming with strong, startling ideas... Remarkable”
- Literary Review
“A novel of intelligence, grace, cunning and warped imagination… MacInnes is one of our most exciting new voices.”
- Stuart Evers, author of Your Father Sends his Love
“Labyrinthine, beautifully written and teeming with ideas… Frighteningly good”
- Lee Rourke, author of Vulgar Things
“Impressive and finely textured... This is fiction as a metaphorical labyrinth of the mind.”
- Edward Docx, Guardian
“a vivid, immersive act of imagination that reads like the best bits of Paul Kingsnorth’s intense interior monologue Beast filtered through Conrad’s Heart of Darkness… the calling card of a deeply serious writer, one ambitious enough to attempt a true novel of ideas, and equipped with the intellectual firepower to pull it off”
- Scotland on Sunday
“[A] brilliant and unpredictable novel… the story reads like out of Kafka, refined by Jorge Luis Borges. There are echoes too of J.G. Ballard’s The Drowned World… unputdownable once you get into it.”
- Library Journal
“Infinite Ground by Martin MacInnes is a dazzling and unsettling kaleidoscope of (sur)realities that redraw the boundaries of the possible. By evoking an epic confrontation between the corporate and the animal, MacInnes explores a myriad of futures for the relationship between human and non-human life forms.”
- Helen Phillips, author of The Beautiful Bureaucrat
