One does not expect a suave Cambridge-educated, Financial Times journalist to write a novel in 'rude boy' language; so when 29-year-old Gautam Malkani's first novel, Londonstani, was unveiled at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair, it made an impact. It was also favourably reviewed in Time, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.

Londonstani is a comic portrayal of a city infused with cross-cultural violence, religious tensions and struggling friendships, not to mention mobile phone worshipping and head-spinning MTV talk. Narrator, Jas, a former nerd who has been adopted by a trio of wannabe gangsters who terrorise locals, especially 'coconuts' (Asians deemed to have betrayed their roots), guides the readers through the plot. On a purely linguistic level, the novel makes for a thrilling piece of work. Verve quizzes Malkani about the New-Age elements in his work....

Q. What does Londonstani connote?
A. When I was growing up in West London in Hounslow, Londonstani was a term used to describe British Asians. I use it as a celebration of our own brand of 'Britishness' in the shadow of the divergent cultures of our parents' generation.

Q. What inspired you to write the book?
A. During my research for my dissertation at Cambridge on this subject, I tried to work out the extent to which the kids' ethnic identity was a proxy for their masculinity. The boys were trying to be hard; they were trying to be men in households with domineering mothers and that led to hyper masculinity. So, there was that sudden switch from being civil members of society to growing facial hair and wearing a tough attitude. I wanted to portray social assimilation - how characters continuously negotiate their emotional space in society whilst trying to find a way to coexist within the mainstream.

Q. How fluent are you with the language that you have used in the book?
A. I studied there; so I know the language we spoke ten years ago in school - obviously I don't talk like that today. I wanted to create a timeless version of the language - it's for anyone interested in reading about urban youth culture. And, of course, I had recorded many interviews with the children and could study the tapes to recreate their manner of speaking in my novel.

Q. Do you think Asian authors have to be close to their roots to succeed?
A. No, not really. Most people write about what they know best though; their writing does have a lot to do with their experiences and how they have impacted them. When I wrote, I wanted to depict the layers of hypocrisy that are so rooted in Asian culture and how parents place unnecessary emotional pressure in an attempt to mould and control their kids.

Q. What next?
A. I have signed a two-book deal but have still not decided on the subject. My job with the Financial Times keeps me terribly busy but I have to find a way of writing more.