Ulrich Peltzer “Das bessere Leben” (“The Better Life”)
Ulrich Peltzer has always written modern novels in the best sense of the word. After dissecting Berlin at the turn of the millennium in Teil der Lösung (“Part of the Solution”), his new novel Das bessere Leben (“The Better Life”) is set in such global cities as São Paulo, Zurich, Milan and Amsterdam. The main protagonist is Jochen Brockmann, a successful sales manager. But when the global deals start to turn sour, the pressure grows. Banks refuse to extend credit lines, and a major contract in Indonesia goes badly wrong. And then Sylvester Lee Fleming appears on the scene—an unscrupulously successful investor, and a fascinating, diabolic figure. Peltzer’s new novel is an impressive kaleidoscopic picture of modern global financial capitalism with its insane capital flows and the pursuit of profit. At the same time, though, he also explores dreams and utopias, and the question of what really happened to our vision of a better life. Introduced by Helmut Böttiger.