The Bedevilments

'Right.' She flicked the thin dress straps off her shoulders, then reached behind her back for the zip. 'Let's get started, mister.' Anthony is barely present in his own life.

A failed academic career, a call-centre job he hates, an Alcoholics Anonymous group he resents attending: he's checked out from all of it. He spends the Sydney summer trying to avoid the sun, and lives only for the evenings when he can visit Emma, a sex worker at a local brothel.

He can afford an hour with her once a month, maybe every two months.

He's got it down to once every two weeks, or ten days.

Then Emma disappears, and there's nowhere left for Anthony to hide.

By turns appalling, funny and touching, The Bedevilments is a compelling story about addiction, sex and anonymity.