A meticulous account of the fiery German political scene in the 1970s holds Kim Janssen’s interest as it recreates a world of extremes

THE first thing visitors to Michael Arditti’s Primrose Hill flat see is a typewritten sign admonishing them to “Please remove your shoes”.
The second, next to the first, is a surprisingly sexy print of Judi Dench playing Sally Bowles in the original West End production of Cabaret.
If the juxtaposition of the prim and the decadent appears incongruous, it also turns out to be instructive; Arditti’s latest novel, Unity, follows his previous three in its combination of a deeply moral tone and its depiction of outrageous behaviour.
And if Arditti immediately apologises for the note – “My mother was appalled when she saw it,” he admits – he has no qualms about having written an uncharacteristically ambitious British novel.
“As a novelist, I don’t want sit on the sidelines – I want to tackle the big themes,” he says.