John Mullan is Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London. He has published extensively on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature. He is also a prolific broadcaster and journalist, and writes on contemporary fiction for the Guardian. In 2009 he was one of the judges for the Man Booker Prize. His most recent book is What Matters in Jane Austen? He has lectured widely on both Austen and Dickens in the UK and the US, and makes regular appearances at UK literary festivals. He lives in London.