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

Allan Karlsson turns one hundred and decides he has had quite enough of his nursing home. He climbs out of the window in his slippers and heads to the nearest bus station, where he impulsively steals a suitcase from a man in the bathroom. The suitcase belongs to a criminal gang and is full of money, and Allan’s escape sets off a chain of absurd events. Meanwhile, flashback chapters reveal that Allan has spent the twentieth century stumbling through world-changing moments, accidentally influencing events from the Spanish Civil War to the Manhattan Project to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Why Start Here

This is Jonasson’s debut and his best-known work by a wide margin. It showcases everything that makes his writing unique: the joyful absurdity, the blending of historical figures with fictional farce, and the irresistible central character of Allan, a man so placid and unflappable that not even meeting Stalin or Mao can ruffle him.

The novel works perfectly as a starting point because it is entirely self-contained, endlessly entertaining, and requires no particular knowledge of Swedish literature or twentieth-century history to enjoy. The historical episodes are played for comedy, not accuracy, and the present-day adventure is pure slapstick pleasure.

What to Expect

A 384-page comic novel alternating between two timelines. The present-day chapters follow Allan’s picaresque adventure through the Swedish countryside. The historical chapters span the twentieth century with gleeful disregard for probability. The humor is broad, warm, and relentless. Adapted into a Swedish film in 2013 that became one of Sweden’s most successful films.