Mohsin Hamid is a novelist. Born in Lahore in 1971, he studied law at Harvard, and worked as a management consultant in New York and as a freelance journalist in Pakistan before moving to London in 2001. Hamid’s first novel, Moth Smoke (2000), won a Betty Trask Award. His second, The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), was published in 16 languages and was shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize. It is out now in paperback.

Who are your literary heroes?

The south Asian writer Saadat Hasan Manto, Nabokov and Borges.

When did you know you were going to be a writer?

I’m still not sure. I’ve told stories my whole life and I do hope to be able to make a living out of it.

Can a person be taught to write?

Yes, but your best teacher is yourself and there are limits to what you can learn.

Where do you write best?

In my bed, with my laptop on my lap.

What is the best piece of advice a parent gave you?

“Don’t take things too seriously.” I haven’t followed it.

Who would you choose to play you in a film about your life?

Natalie Portman. She’s not a man, she’s not Pakistani and she’s younger than me. But films are supposed to be different from books.

What would you do if you gave up writing?

I would eventually implode.

Who wouldn’t you mind being stuck in a lift with?

Jinnah, the father of Pakistan. I’d ask him how he thinks the whole Pakistan situation is going to play out.

What is the hardest thing to write about?

Contentment. It’s easier to explore the real highs or the real lows. It’s the sustained “okayness” that’s very difficult to capture.

What are you scared of?

Not having spent enough time with the people I love.

What book do you wish you’d written?

My next one. I’ve no idea what it’s going to be at the moment, and that’s very daunting.

Which literary character most resembles you?

The water rat in The Wind in the Willows, when he starts fantasising about leaving everything and travelling around.

What was the first novel you read?

Charlotte’s Web. It contains the most sophisticated yet gentle treatment of death I’ve ever read.