A Landing on the Sun: A Novel (2003) is representative of Frayn's novel writing. This book presents a mystery about Brian Jessel, a member of Great Britain's cabinet office, whose death is somewhat suspicious.

For a funnier side of Frayn, try reading his play Noises Off (1982), a sexual farce that is actually two plays in one: the first of which is acted out on stage, and the second of which follows the disastrous events that occur backstage immediately following the presentation onstage, as bumbling actors and stagehands stumble through the production.

An Experiment with an Air Pump (1998), a play by Shelagh Stephenson, is set in two different time periods, 1799 and 1999. The focus of the first time period is on scientist Joseph Fenwick, who struggles with a mix of his own ambitions and desires for progress with his moral beliefs. In the...