The Autograph Man cover art

The Autograph Man

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Autograph Man

By: Zadie Smith
Narrated by: Ben Barnes
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

From the MAN BOOKER PRIZE- and WOMEN'S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED author of Swing Time, White Teeth and On Beauty

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith, read by Ben Barnes.

'A pleasure from the first page to the last' Evening Standard


'A glorious concoction
by our most beguiling and original prose-wizard' Independent on Sunday

'Full of humour, the search for love and the fear of death... A touching, thoughtful, deeply felt rite-of-passage novel' Sunday Telegraph

The Autograph Man follows one Alex-Li Tandem: a twenty-something Chinese-Jewish autograph dealer turned on by sex, drugs and organised religion. From London to New York, love to death, fathers to sons, Alex tries to discover how a piece of paper can bring him closer to his heart's desire. Exposing our misconceptions about our idols - about ourselves - Zadie Smith delivers a brilliant, unforgettable tale about who we are and what we really want to be.

©2002 Zadie Smith (P)2018 Penguin Audio
City Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Urban Women's Fiction Funny Heartfelt China

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Picture of Dorian Gray cover art
Demon in the Wood cover art
The Truth About These Strange Times cover art
Men Like Air cover art
The Fragments cover art
To Be Someone cover art
Please Don't Stop The Music cover art
The Lives of Saints cover art
Animals cover art
Mother cover art
Postcards from the Heart cover art

Critic reviews

"A brilliant comedy with a tantalising throb of mystic philosophy underneath." (Philip Hensher, Books of the Year, Spectator)

All stars
Most relevant
This is one of the best audio books I have listened to. It’s is brilliantly written- with an engaging story, wonderful characters, and both thought provoking and extremely amusing. It is read fantastically by Ben Barnes who’s narration and myriad voices manage to remain engaging and add to the book, without over playing it and always as clear as a bell. Highly recommended.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The book is wonderful. Zadie is such a thoughtful and insightful author. However, each sentence is cut slightly short, which can become horrifically distracting and produces a jarring, stumbling effect.

great book, poor editing of audio

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.