Spanning a single day, this tense spy novel from Kim (I Have the Right to Destroy Myself), marred only by some stilted prose, is also a deeply compelling study of the self and varying themes of trust. Kim Ki-yong, a North Korean spy who's lived undercover for 21 years, has fully adapted to life in Seoul, South Korea, where he runs a successful foreign-film importing business, owns a home, and has a wife and teenage daughter, neither of whom is aware of his past or actual identity. As Ki-yong ponders returning to the austere and sterile militaristic regime of the North after receiving a coded message from his handler ("Liquidate everything and return immediately"), his wife, Ma-ri, struggles with infidelity and his daughter, Hyon-mi, maneuvers the tumultuous and tricky landscape of adolescence. Kim offers a riveting tale of espionage along with keen observations of human behavior.

"Filled with the kind of sublime, galvanizing stories that strike like a lightning bolt, searing your nerves . . . It's easy enough to see why Kim . . . is acclaimed as the best writer of his generation; pick up this book and find out for yourself." -- Nylon

It's been twenty-five years since I last murdered someone, or has it been twenty-six?

Diary of a Murderer captivates and provokes in equal measure, exploring what it means to be on the edge--between life and death, good and evil. In the titular novella, a former serial killer suffering from memory loss sets his sights on one final target: his daughter's boyfriend, who he suspects is also a serial killer. In other stories we witness an affair between two childhood friends that questions the limits of loyalty and love; a family's disintegration after a baby son is kidnapped and recovered years later; and a wild, erotic ride about pursuing creativity at the expense of everything else.
From "one of South Korea's best and most worldly writers" (NPR), Diary of a Murderer is chilling and high-powered all the way through.

"Kim is expert at finding the humanity inside the other, the comedy inside the tragedy, and the twisted within the seemingly normal." -- CrimeReads

榮獲2007年萬海文學獎，改編成舞台劇

他雖然忘記了命運，但命運並沒有忘記他。
在這個光與暗並存的矛盾世界
他們每個人，都把自己活成
表裡不一的間諜

一紙24小時內回歸北韓的命令，
讓他在短短一天之內，
掙扎於國家的認同、間諜的使命與生存的欲望。
當曾經的誓不兩立，變成如今的平淡安逸，
原本一分為二的人生，也迎向了未知的命運……

浪漫主義相信，藝術要不是能夠使陌生的變熟悉，就是能讓熟悉的變陌生。我們這就看到有人同時達到了這兩者。金英夏就像他筆下的人物，是個間諜。他偵測著人性，而他提供的祕密訊息是無價的。――艾加．凱磊（Etgar Keret），《忽然一陣敲門聲》作者

《光之帝國》這部韓國小說意圖超越他人。透過一日之中發生事件的迷人描述，作家帶領我們深入現代韓國的心魂，告訴我們在一個充滿界線的世界，人性的意義究竟為何。――維卡斯．史瓦盧普（Vikas Swarup），「平民百萬富翁」電影原著作者

一個被遺忘的間諜
金基榮是來自北韓的間諜，21歲時被派到南韓臥底，在首爾定居，結婚生女，徹底融入資本主義的社會。某天他突然接到來自平壤的召回信，要求他在一天之內清理全部工作，回歸祖國。他感到晴天霹靂，因為間諜被召回北韓，通常意味著&