Skip to main content
A biting tragicomedy on modern times

Fortunate Slaves

Tom Lanoye

Two Belgian exiles, both called Tony Hanssen, are seeking themselves in a world that has become too big and too chaotic for everyone. In Buenos Aires, to pay off his debts, one of the Tony Hanssens – a former cruise director on the most luxurious pleasure boats in the world – is playing a dangerous game as toy boy to the elderly wife of a filthy rich Chinaman. In South Africa, a totally different Tony Hanssen – a runaway computer specialist from a crashed merchant bank – breaks into a game reserve with a precision rifle and war ammunition.

A novel disguised as a thriller - a real treat! *****
NRC Handelsblad

One Tony is a loser with no illusions, the other Tony a high-spirited nerd. Both are hoping for salvation. One wants his freedom back, the other his family. It is not until they meet for the first time, in yet another continent, that it turns out just how much they will have to rely on one another to achieve their goals. If they ever do achieve them.

‘Fortunate Slaves’ is out and out Lanoye: a pitch-black tragicomedy with unforgettable characters and dialogues, an ingenious plot and a virtuoso style.

Enthralling, amusing and intriguing *****
De Volkskrant