The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe

Armed only with a counterfeit 100-Euro note, Ajatashatru the fakir, renowned conjurer and trickster, lands in Paris. His mission? To acquire a splendid new bed of nails. His destination? IKEA.

And there he decides to stay, finding an obliging wardrobe in which to lay his head. Only when he emerges from his slumber does he discover that he is locked in, unable to free himself and heading for England in the back of a truck.

So begins a magnificent and bizarre adventure for the intrepid fakir. Even while he flees the revenge-crazed taxi driver whom he conned on his arrival, and falls further in love with Marie Rivière, the Parisian beauty whom he tricked into lunching with him, he finds time to befriend a group of Sudanese immigrants, travel to Italy in a suitcase, write a novel on a shirt, and fly to Libya in a hot air balloon.

Witty, moving, surprising and joyful, this novel reminds us that heroism abounds, and is to be found in the most unlikely of places.

"Full of quirky charm... Delightful" Kate Saunders The Times

ROMAIN PUÉRTOLAS was born 39 years ago in Montpellier. He wrote
The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir who got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe on his mobile phone whilst working as a French border guard. Romain has previously worked as a cleaner at the Brighton Palace Pier, where he learnt how to say ‘Don’t lean on the slot machine’ without a French accent. This is his first novel.