The Death of Vishnu Suri, Manil

A Mumbai apartment building becomes a microcosm of India itself in this darkly comic novel. Vishnu, the building's alcoholic handyman, lies dying on the landing between floors while the residents step over him, consumed by their own dramas — feuding neighbors, a doomed elopement, religious tensions simmering beneath middle-class civility. As Vishnu drifts between consciousness and delirium, he reimagines himself as the Hindu god whose name he bears, ascending through the floors toward transcendence or oblivion. Manil Suri weaves together mythology, mordant social satire, and genuine pathos, exposing the absurdities and cruelties of class division while tracking one man's final spiritual journey. The prose shifts from realist comedy to mystical reverie without missing a beat. If you love novels where domestic chaos collides with existential questions — think Zadie Smith meets magical realism — this will hit hard.