Florian Wicki, editor, finews.ch 

«The Capital» by Robert Menasse (originally released in German as «Die Hauptstadt» in 2017)

What it is:

A Holocaust survivor who outlives all his friends, a depressed civil servant planning an anniversary celebration for the EU in a former concentration camp, and a failed Greek-Cypriot careerist, and a professor who wants to move the center of the bloc from Brussels. The characters couldn't be more different, but their fates are entwined.

Why I recommend it:

Robert Menasse has managed to enliven the dull halls of the European Union, thanks to exhaustingly spectacular research on the institution in Brussels. He provides a glimpse of the backroom bartering at Schuman Square, where the bloc's four arms meet – and he includes a provocative thought experiment.