“Perhaps the mistake is to think of me, in actual fact. 

I mean by that, that I’ve never been able to talk about my life, actually. 

As soon as I start talking about my life I start lying straightaway. To begin with I lie consciously. And very quickly I forget that I’m lying”. 

- Michel Houellebecq, transcribed, by me, from a 2005 BBC interview. Photo of Houellebecq from the period.