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Hello and welcome to The Spectator's Book Club podcast.

I'm Sam Leith, the literary editor of The Spectator.

And this week, we are honouring the number 42,

the answer, as all fans of Douglas Adams will know,

to the big question of life, the universe and everything.

It is the 42nd anniversary, believe it or not, of the first radio performance of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

And this week I'm very pleased to be joined by two people.

First, Adam Roberts, who's a science fiction writer, a professor of literature and a

self-declared hitchhiker's superfan, and John Lloyd, who as well as being the founder of QI, has been

a pivotal figure in almost everything that's been funny in the last three or four decades,

and who also knew Douglas Adams very well. Welcome both. Adam, I'd like to start by

coming to you. What was it that, to go back to that first sort of encounter with hitchhikers?

I mean, was it completely out of the blue? Was he doing something that nobody had done before?

I think so. I mean, I'm a little startled to think it was 42 years ago.

And that would make me very old.

That can't be right, surely.

And I do remember listening to the radio series.

I had to stay up late.

...