Antoine Laurain, novelist: One minute interview

Laurain is the bestselling author of the Waterstones Book Club title 'The President's Hat'

Laurain says: 'I admire Patrick Modiano because of the quality and atmosphere of his writing' (Jean-Luc Bertini)

Where are you now and what can you see?

In Paris, in my flat. I'm sitting at my desk. Through the window, I can see a bit of Sacré-Coeur of Montmartre, and I can hear the trains at Saint-Lazare station. Facing me is my favourite painting, the highlight of my collection, but I'm not telling you what it is!

What are you currently reading?

The unpublished notebooks of Henri de Régnier (1,000 pages). This writer and poet – a contemporary of Proust to give you some background – wrote in his diary for more than 50 years.

Choose a favourite author and say why you admire her/him

Patrick Modiano, because his books have been with me for so long; because of the quality and the atmosphere of his writing... everything.

Describe the room where you usually write

It contains a bookshelf made by a carpenter friend; a chimney which works in winter; a television which I never watch; a sofa for when people pass by, and my cat who sleeps on it.

Which fictional character most resembles you?

Roger Thornhill, played by Cary Grant in North by Northwest by Alfred Hitchcock, for this retort: "I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself 'slightly' killed."

Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

My cat, who moved in with me from the gutter one afternoon. Heroic, don't you think?

Antoine Laurain is the bestselling author of the Waterstones Book Club title 'The President's Hat'. His new novel, 'The Red Notebook', is published by Gallic Books (£8.99)