Der Sturz is the third novel in a trilogy centred on the figure of Anselm Kristlein. It is full of allusions to the earlier Halbzeit and to a lesser extent, Das Einhorn; and both characters and events are very like those of the previous novels. The big difference is that Der Sturz is pervaded by a strong odour of decay and putrefaction….

In many respects, this novel is complementary to Halbzeit. There, Kristlein was a climber struggling to reach the pinnacle of fashionable society, here he is seen slithering down the same social slope he had previously ascended. The important thing is to know whether, as Walser claims, Kristlein's fate can be blamed on the social conditions prevailing in the Federal Republic. German reviewers of Der Sturz have varied between accepting Walser's own thesis and claiming that the root of Kristlein's problems is not social but purely individual...