Mario Vargas Llosa by Gerald Martin review – the Peruvian leftist who fell in love with Margaret Thatcher

This stylish biography of the author traces his journey from left to right, and from ‘posh Lima’ to Cricklewood

Billy Liar review – Tom Courtenay is superb in classic study of a young man and his quixotic dreams

Courtenay gives a beautiful performance as the undertaker’s clerk who nurses preposterous ambitions. But the film is too quick to surrender them

Alive by Melanie Challenger review – a maverick study of what it means to have a body

In this disorienting book, a poet argues we have been looking at nature – and ourselves – the wrong way

Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli review – a mother and daughter’s odyssey

This journey of discovery from the US to Sicily tackles urgent themes, but is increasingly inward-looking

Lesvia review – the rise and fall of an amazing lesbian community on Sappho’s actual island home

Director Tzeli Hadjidimitriou grew up on Lesbos, and her elegant debut feature explores how the Greek poet’s birthplace became a hub for lesbians

Underdogs by Louise Powell review – a powerful debut with plenty of northern soul

A bereaved father and son bond over greyhound racing in an east Durham town in terminal decline

Upland by Ed Douglas review – a glorious survey of Britain’s high places

The writer and climber brings colour and carnival to his account of a country and people shaped by its mountains

What If We Got AI Right? by Eleanor Drage review – avoiding apocalypse

The academic’s ambitious guide to the ethics of tech falls short of its promise to provide meaningful answers

Gaining Ground by Joan Barfoot review – Anne Enright celebrates a landmark feminist novel

Half a century on, this tale of a woman who abandons her children in search of her self remains thrillingly original

Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels

Dogs v bears from Max Porter; a baby adventure; an Irish boarding school murder mystery; and an unsettling YA folk horror

The World Is Full of Married Men review – Jackie Collins’ bonkbuster as a gloriously filthy puppet show

Barbies, giant erections and exquisite craftsmanship combine in one of the year’s most outrageously funny and startingly original shows

Unsayable by Michael Cunningham review – The Hours author on the insecurities that powered his creative life

The American novelist and screenwriter’s memoir covers sex work, Virginia Woolf and Hollywood success

I Made This Just For You by Chris Ames review – absurd satirical takes on the bleak absurdity of modern life

These playful and experimental short stories are set in a distorted but plausible version of our deeply online world – but tenderness is never far

The Midnight Train by Matt Haig audiobook review – a cosy, feelgood journey

Actor James Norton brings a sense of gentle longing to this tale of an octogenarian looking back on the life he’s departed

Air by Christian Kracht review – a metaphysical jigsaw puzzle

A portal opens from our modern world of data centres and interior design into a medieval fantasy realm, in this playfully surreal tale from the author of Eurotrash