"The Body" is a collection of eight stories. The title story is in fact a novella that takes up over half the book, so I'll concentrate on that.

The Body is pure science fiction. I'm sure the marketing people would hate such an unfashionable categorisation, as perhaps would Kureishi himself, but that's what it is. It's intelligent, literate and multi-layered - just like all good science fiction.

The concept is a standard SF idea. The narrator - ironically named "Adam" - is an old man. He is introduced to a group of people who extend their lives by arranging brain transplants into younger bodies. It's an old idea that's been done many times. What Kureishi does with it isn't particularly original but it is handled extremely well.

Adam gets his new body and sets out on an orgy of hedonism, making up for lost time. Along the way he learns a lot about himself, both old and young.

As I said, The Body is multi-layered and it's that which makes it work. There are a lot of subtextural themes covered here, including identity, authenticity and regret. All held together by an interesting if unoriginal story.

Once or twice the writing becomes a little self-indulgent when Kureishi feels the need to explore a particular thought in depth. There's room for a little tightening. However on the whole the Body manages to strike a good balance between philosophising and story-telling. The ending is both dramatically satisfying and open.

For those who like to play literary games, references abound, from direct quoting of Dylan Thomas through mention of Dorian Gray to more subtle references to Nietzsche's BGE.

A pleasure to read.

So what of the seven other stories that make up the second half of this book? On the whole they're very good, showing again Kureishi's ability to fuse literary talent with story-telling. An example of this is Hullabaloo In The Tree. It's a short piece involving a football stuck in a tree. It could have been a complete waste of time but Kureishi instils the incident with a mythic quality.

Another piece of interest to SF fans will be Face To Face With You. This would be at home in any collection of contemporary fantasy: Ed and Ann have new neighbours who are uncannily familiar and force them to re-evaluate their own lives.

For me the standout story came as a total surprise. Remember This Moment, Remember Us is a very short, simple piece about a middle-aged couple taping a message for their young son to play as an adult. In less skilled hands it would have probably have turned into saccharine mush. Kureishi gets it exactly right. The piece has huge emotional impact and brings a lump to the throat.

There's only one traditional literary stinker in this collection: Goodbye, Mother. This is a tedious, overlong ramble which goes nowhere very slowly. I was unsurprised to learn that it was first published in Granta.

Putting that one hiccup aside, this is a first rate collection that will appeal to anyone who likes good writing. Especially fans of literary SF.