MR PORTER’s pick of this season’s must-read literature.

As autumn approaches and the evenings draw in, our appetite for activity of any kind is replaced by a desire simply to settle into a comfortable chair with a good book. But what should be on our reading list? Here, we suggest five books that are not only extremely enjoyable, but also the most talked about of the season.

By Mr Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)

Mr Ian McEwan’s latest book may be a first in world literature: a novel narrated entirely by a foetus in utero. Our hero is bad tempered, and has cause to be. He’s the prince in a contemporary, north London version of Hamlet, forced to eavesdrop as his mum (Trudy, of course) has an affair with his wicked uncle Claude and plots to murder his dad. To be, or not to be? That is the question. And it’s one that a foetus doesn’t get much choice about.

Nutshell (Jonathan Cape) by Mr Ian McEwan is out now

By Dr Elizabeth Foyster (Oneworld Publications)

One of the most bizarre and scandalous trials in British history forms the subject of Dr Elizabeth Foyster’s latest book. The third Earl of Portsmouth was a fixture in Georgian high society. Lord Byron was a witness at his marriage. But when he was in his mid-fifties, his family set about trying to get him declared insane. Was it the naked bell-ringing or the obsession with funerals (or, as he called them, “black jobs”) that did it? The story of the trial, which ended with his committal in 1823, is a window into the anxieties of the age.

The Trials Of The King Of Hampshire (Oneworld) by Ms Elizabeth Foyster is out now

By Mr John Le Carré (Viking)

Our greatest spy writer, who has in the past jealously guarded his privacy, at last opens up. In The Pigeon Tunnel, Mr John Le Carré tells the story of growing up with his father Ronnie, a “conman, fantasist, occasional jailbird”, who mingled with high society and the Kray twins alike. He describes the mother who abandoned him. He describes his own life as a liar – first as a spy, then as a writer. And he drops in anecdotes about encounters with Mrs Margaret Thatcher, Mr Rupert Murdoch and Mr Yasser Arafat along the way. It will make you say, like a pigeon, “Coo!”

The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories From My Life (Viking) by Mr John le Carré is out now

By Mr Ed Yong (Bodley Head)

Can bacteria be sexy? Mr Ed Yong certainly thinks so. His first book is a study of the microbes that live in, on and around us. We aren’t, you will discover reading this book, so much individual organisms as colonies, and our relationship with our tiny passengers is a central part of our existence. We have 100 trillion bacteria in our gut (there are only 100 billion stars in the Milky Way), so you’ll think twice before booking a table for one again.

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us And A Grander View Of Life (Bodley Head) by Mr Ed Yong is out now

By Miss Zadie Smith (Hamish Hamilton)

It’s been four years since Miss Zadie Smith produced a novel – the acclaimed NW – so hopes are high for this one. Swing Time tells the story of a childhood friendship between two girls who dream of becoming dancers. Racial politics, music and the passage of time divide them, but the memory of their relationship never goes away. Miss Smith is one of our most accomplished novelists, and this story, which takes her characters from north London to West Africa, is certain to be one of the books of the autumn.

Swing Time (Hamish Hamilton) by Ms Zadie Smith is out 15 November