Tibor Fischer (born 15 November 1959) is a British

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

ist and short-story writer. In 1993, he was selected by the literary magazine ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'' as one of the 20 best young British writers, while his novel '' Under the Frog'' was featured on the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

shortlist.

Early life

Fischer's parents were Hungarian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

players, who fled

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

in 1956; first his father, György Fischer, and then his mother, the captain of the women's national basketball team. Tibor's father studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, started work in the Hungarian section of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, taking the name "George Fischer", and ended up as Radio Four's head of talks and documentaries. Tibor Fischer was born in

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

, England, in 1959 and grew up in Bromley, Kent, where he attended the local

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

. He studied

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and French at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

Author

The 1956 revolution, and his father's background, informed Fischer's

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

'' Under the Frog'', about a Hungarian basketball team in the first years of Communism in Hungary. The title is derived from a Hungarian saying, that the worst possible place to be is "under a frog's arse down a coal mine."" In 1992, the novel won a Betty Trask Prize for literature, and was the first debut novel to be shortlisted for the

.Tibor Firscher
British Council - Literature Fischer's subsequent novels include '' The Thought Gang'', about a delinquent and alcoholic philosophy professor who hooks up with a failed one-armed bandit in France to form a successful team of bank robbers, and '' The Collector Collector'', about a weekend in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, narrated by a 5000-year-old

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...

ian pot. '' Voyage to the End of the Room'' was published in 2003, and concerned an

agoraphobic Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no way to escape. These situations can include public transit, shopping centers, crowds and q ...

ex-dancer. ''Good to be God'' was published by Alma Books on 4 September 2008. In it a broke, unemployed, "habitual failure" uses his friend's credit card to start a new life in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

where he decides that the fastest way to make a fortune would be to start a religion. In 2000, Fischer published a short-story collection entitled ''Don't Read This Book If You're Stupid'', published in the U.S. as ''I Like Being Killed: Stories''.

Academia

In 2009, Fischer became the Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at City and Guilds of London Art School.Fellow at City & Guilds of London School of Art, 2009/10
Royal Literary Fund,

Politics

In April 2017, Fischer wrote an

opinion piece An opinion piece is an article, usually published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about a subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals. Editorials Opinion pieces may take the form of an editorial, ...

in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' where he defended Hungarian

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the 56th prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has also led the Fidesz political party since 200 ...

's government against charges of

authoritarianism Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

and

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

." In the same context, he rejected notions of the government going after the George Soros funded Central European University, arguing that the relevant and controversial amendment to the law on higher education affects some 28 foreign institutions, 27 of which were found to be operating with "irregularities" ("largely sloppy paperwork, something that will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with university admin") and that none has been fined or shut down. Fischer posits that the CEU "is not being singled out for punishment" but "asking to be given privileged treatment." In response to it, the newspaper received letters from CEU president

Michael Ignatieff Michael Grant Ignatieff ( ; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a historian, Ignatieff has ...

, Brian J. Dooley, of Human Rights First, and others, who expressed their opposition to Fischer's views,Democracy and academic freedom in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary
, Letters, ''The Guardian'', 23 April 2017. arguing that the amendment requires the operation of a campus in CEU's country of origin, something that "would effectively make it impossible for CEU to operate in Hungary", and denying that the university has sought "special privileges".

Works

Novels

*'' Under the Frog'' (1992) *'' The Thought Gang'' (1994) *'' The Collector Collector'' (1997) *'' Voyage to the End of the Room'' (2003) *''Good to be God'' (2008) *''The Hungarian Tiger'' (2014) *''How to Rule the World'' (2018)

Collections

*''Don't Read This Book If You're Stupid'' (2000) (US title: ''I Like Being Killed'') *''Crushed Mexican Spiders'' (2011)

References

External links

Tibor Fischer
at the '' complete review''
Interview of Tibor Fischer
at the ''identitytheory'' literary website, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Tibor 1959 births 20th-century English male writers 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English male writers 21st-century British short story writers 21st-century English novelists Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge English male novelists English male short story writers English people of Hungarian descent English short story writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature International Writing Program alumni Living people Writers from Stockport