Pretending to be himself

Published on 05/09/2014 by David Birkett

Maverick French author Michel Houellebecq, whose literary renown is equalled by his notoriety, has taken his career in an interesting new direction. Having appeared as himself in his last novel, The Map and the Territory, Houellebecq has extended this idea by starring as himself in not one but two films. The author features as a kidnap victim in the unsurprisingly-titled The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, while Near Death Experience sees him undergo that process in a Provencal retreat. His performance in the former has been praised for its comic, deadpan quality, with Le Point magazine describing the film as ‘unexpected and irresitisible’. The author’s surname is pronounced ‘wellbeck’, by the way.