The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

A Swedish Forrest Gump mixed with Jára Cimrman

It’s Allan Karlsson’s birthday. He’s one hundred years old. A reason to celebrate, really. The mayor and the local press are preparing for a grand celebration, but the centenarian has quite different plans; he simply disappears—and soon all of Sweden is in an uproar over his escape. But Allan already has experience with such things—after all, in his youth, he threw the whole world into confusion.

In his novel, Jonas Jonasson tells the story of a cheerful escape and also the crazy life story of a headstrong man who, although never interested in politics, was always somehow entangled in the great historical events of the 20th century. The book quickly became a reader's hit and the best-selling Swedish book of 2010 and 2011. It has currently been translated or is being translated into 35 languages. It has seen phenomenal success in Germany this year and has become a bestseller in the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, France, Italy, and Spain, among other places. A film is being made based on the book with the largest budget in the history of Swedish cinematography.

"The book's international success thus seems understandable – in Jonasson's stories, wit and optimism triumph over violence and stupidity, and evil is so small, worthless, and feeble that it can be forgotten after a few generously poured shots of schnapps. "
Právo