Deepti Kapoor's Age of Vice, published in 2023, is a story of power, corruption, and complicity, set in modern India. In the early 2000s, the lives of Ajay, Neda, and Sunny – the novel's three main characters – cross in New Delhi. There is idealism, optimism even; but also crime, drugs, and violence, as Sunny Wadia follows in the footsteps of his powerful father. Age of Vice, which became a New York Times bestseller and will be adapted into a tv series, is not a didactic novel, but a deeply researched portrait of a changing country, with a fast-growing economy, and ever greater inequality.

Deepti visited Zurich in October 2024 to talk about the book at Asia Society Switzerland's Big Picture event. The conversation was moderated by James Crabtree, 2024 TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Switzerland and himself author of a well-received book on India's billionaire class. Listen to their conversation in this episode of the STATE OF ASIA podcast, or watch them at the event in this video.

GUESTS ON THIS EPISODE

Deepti Kapoor is an Indian novelist currently based between India and Portugal. Her first novel A Bad Character was published to critical acclaim in 2014 and shortlisted for major Indian awards. In France it was shortlisted for the Prix Médicis.
Her second novel Age of Vice, the first part of a trilogy, was an instant New York Times bestseller and published in 22 countries in 2023. It was named a Best Book of the Year by the Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Oprah Daily, NPR and the Telegraph among other publications and shortlisted for the Prix Fragonard in France. 
It is currently being developed into a major television series by FX.

James Crabtree is the 2024 TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute and Asia Society Switzerland. He is a distinguished analyst with long-standing experience and a vast range of high-level contacts in the region. His 2018 book The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age, was named an Amazon book of the year and short-listed as FT / McKinsey business book of the year. He is a distinguished visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He was previously the Singapore-based Executive Director of the Institute of International Strategic Studies (IISS) in Asia, where he led the organisation of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit, the region’s most important annual meeting of security and defense leaders. He was also an Associate Professor in Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School, Asia’s leading school of public policy.

STATE OF ASIA podcast

Season 7, Bonus Episode 2 – published December 9, 2024

Host, Editor/Producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

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