Netherland It surprised me that a story about a Dutchman living in New York who falls in with a group of shady, cricket-loving immigrants could be so gripping. But Netherland by Joseph O’Neill is one of the most original, edgy books I’ve read in ages. Jim Davies         Timbuktu I don’t remember …more

Which literary character would you most like to go on holiday with? Roger Horberry: Eeyore would be perfect for the Horberry family’s rain-soaked Lake District ordeal Jim Davies: Jeeves would be just the ticket. Between wry quips, he could put a perfect crease in my swimming trunks, do all the necessary grappling with sunbeds, and …more

What book are you taking on your summer holidays? Mike Reed I’ll be taking Light, by M John Harrison, which I’m about one third of the way through. I don’t usually read space opera SF, but anything Harrison writes is worth reading. His stories in The Ice Monkey haunt me still, as do scenes from …more

Which defunct brand do you most miss, and why? I seriously miss Woollies… and suspect many do but are too ashamed to say so. FW Woolworth, what a brand. What other brand going forward may ever again attain “the wonder of ” status? Indeed the whole notion of ‘the wonder of’ seems now purely attributable …more

A semi-regular vox-pop feature in which 26 members voice their opinions on the ‘hot’ topics of the day… This month: Which literary figure do you think would make a good writer for business? Tom Lynham I would hire Italo Calvino for his ability to transform transience into substance. Organisations are immensely abstract institutions and the …more

Target audiences, guerilla marketing, brand territory… should marketers be worried about using so many military metaphors? It feels a bit like wearing combat trousers. Do you actually need these pockets on your thighs and Velcro tabs at the ankles? No. Definitely not. But it’s about feeling rugged and physical: you could be dodging incoming fire …more

Business language is a rich breeding ground for new buzzwords and phrases. What’s the best or worst you’ve come across recently? There’s a terrible new piece of business jargon that I’m increasingly hearing from American based businesses. It’s ‘reach out’, typically used in a phrase like “I’ll reach out to you in the next day …more

How important is it to have a writing outlet other than commercial work? John Simmons Vital. It’s very easy to get into a business writing rut. Fictional writing gets you out of that rut and helps improve your business writing. For the past year I’ve been writing a collection of stories that have come out …more