A FORMER Malvern man whose debut novel won high praise from fellow writers is hard at work on his second book.

David Mitchell's first novel, Ghostwritten, which is out now in paperback, was described as "one of the best first novels I've read for a long time" by A S Byatt.

William Boyd said the book "beguiles, informs, shocks and captivates", and Alex Garland, author of The Beach, called it "a highly imaginative intercontinental novel".

Mr Mitchell, aged 31, who now lives and works in Hiroshima, Japan, was a student at Hanley Castle High School before going to university at Canterbury.

After gaining a BA in English and American literature, he completed an MA in comparative literature whilst working in a Canterbury bookshop. He spent a year living and working in Sicily, before moving to Japan, where he teaches English.

Mr Mitchell was the surprise star of London's first literary festival, The Word, and the Mongolia section of Ghostwritten appeared as the final part of Vintage New Writing 8, to unanimous critical acclaim. Ghostwritten is a novel made up of nine stories and an epilogue, mixing elements from genres such as history, romance, crime, spy thriller and science fiction.

A Mongolian gangster, a redundant English spy in St Petersburg, a disembodied intelligence and a late-night talk-show host from New York are among the figures who move through the web of interconnected events.

Mr Mitchell said: "Someone once asked Elgar where he got his music from. Elgar smiled and gestured around the room and said something like 'The World is made of it. You just reach out and take as much as you want.'

"That's what I feel about fiction. There isn't anything which isn't a story. We're stories, shaped by stories around us."

Ghostwritten is published by Sceptre. His new book, Number9dream is scheduled for publication in March 2001.