Alexander McCall Smith refuses to include phones in his books. He couldn’t be more wrong about the perceived threat of technology to fiction

The popular novelist Alexander McCall Smith – best known for his No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency featuring Precious Ramotswe – has never been much of a fan of modern technology. Back in 2011, he told an audience at the Hay festival, “Botswana is absolutely crammed full of mobile phones, everybody has one, but not in my books. The reason why mobile phones and other forms of invasive technology don’t appear in my novels is because if I see something I don’t like, I don’t mention it. I’m a great believer in denial.”

Each to his own. If I was in need of a private detective, I’m not sure I would go to one who refused to use a mobile phone and had never heard of the internet. I’d rather suspect I was limiting my chances of getting my problem solved. But what do I know? Precious Ramotswe has solved more cases while relaxing over a cup of rooibos tea than many other fictional private eyes have cracked while struggling to get a decent Vodafone signal.

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