Annihilation

<p>Houellebecq's late novel, published in France in 2022 and translated in 2024. An aging bureaucrat in the French finance ministry watches a wave of strange terror attacks coincide with his father's stroke and his own medical diagnosis. Houellebecq being Houellebecq, the book braids political thriller, family drama, and end-of-life meditation with the detached, bleakly funny observation that makes his novels work. Widely considered his most openly tender book.</p>