AUTHOR Glen Duncan’s life seems to veer from the sublime to the ridiculous.

The Bolton-born writer’s seventh novel is published this week and, although he is not a household name, he has been hailed as one of Britain’s most highly-acclaimed novelists.

What he needs to catapult him into the stratosphere is for one of his novels to be made into a film and there are rumours that could happen with his most commercial book, I Lucifer.

According to the Internet Movie Database, usually a fairly reliable source, I Lucifer is slated for release in 2010, starring none other than Daniel Craig and Ewan McGregor.

Sadly, the truth is somewhat removed from the rumour.

“I’m afraid that’s nothing but a rumour,” Glen laughs.

“I mean, it’s a rumour that had a little bit of kindling behind it in that the book has been optioned for a film, it’s in development and at one point Mr Craig was contacted and was interested, but I don’t think that’s true at the moment.”

How does he feel about the books being made into films?

“I think most literary writers would find themselves in the same situation where, on the one hand, you need the money — and I do have my price — and on the other, you’re pretty sure that whoever makes it is going to bodge it.

“That’s for the simple reason that a good literary novel is doing something which you can’t do on screen very easily — they’re are really getting inside people’s heads.”

Glen’s latest novel, A Day and a Night and a Day, tells the story of Augustus, an unlikely operative in a terrorist network who finds himself facing a 21st century Grand Inquisition.

It is as philosophical as ever, but also contains torture scenes that would make even counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer, of Sky TV’s 24, grimace. Does Glen feel that his books show a particularly bleak view of life?

He says: “I don’t really think of them as bleak in that, although the subject matter is often grim and although it invariably involves someone going through some sort of trauma or hardship, I think what they’re really about is people who in one way or another choose life, choose to survive.

“To me, that’s as optimistic as it gets.”

Certainly alongside the horror, there runs a love story as poignant and beautifully created as any romance.

“I’m not a fan of nihilistic art — there’s no point in merely depicting ugliness,” says Glen. “You have to have a contrast between the very best and the very worst.

“I think it’s very easy to float through life without ever asking yourself whether it’s all worth it. Modern Western life makes it very easy to get from birth to death without ever asking any significant philosophical questions.”

As an Anglo-Indian writer himself, it is natural to wonder if Glen picked a mixed-race character to be at the centre of this particular book.

“I think there was always going to be a mixed-race character at the heart of the novel because it was necessary to have a character who grew up feeling that he didn’t fit in,” he says.

“People who are marginalized by or excluded from the herd are less likely to be constrained by herd values, be those values moral, aesthetic, political or religious.”

It’s not all so serious, though. Glen’s next book is a “playful” novel titled The Last Werewolf.

“I’m hoping it will provide a little literary cheer,” he says.

A Day and a Night and a Day was published yesterday by Simon and Schuster UK, priced £14.99.

kdibbits@theboltonnews.co.uk