Gerard Reve’s classic novel De Avonden (the evenings) is to be translated into English for the first time, almost 70 years after it was first published.

Reve is considered one of the great figures of post-war Dutch literature. De Avonden was his debut novel, first published in 1947 when he was 24.

The book revolves around Frits van Egters, who is 23 and has a boring office job. The 10 chapters depict in painstaking detail the last 10 days of the year Frits spends with his family, office colleagues and friends.

De Avonden is being published in Britain by Pushkin Press and translated by Sam Garrett, who has previously translated work by Herman Koch, Arnon Grunberg and Geert Mak. There are already translations in French, German, Slovakian, Norwegian and Spanish.