Icki Iqbal

The Incomplete Man Icki Iqbal

Majid can make numbers talk. But there is a downside. He has little empathy for people and is shy of girls. He has no sense of smell either. He is an Incomplete Man. Ellen is tactile, gregarious and warm hearted. They meet as undergraduates at Cambridge. She gradually transforms him. But is he the finished article? Is the transformation complete? Unusually for a mathematician, Majid has a social conscience. He becomes an actuary and joins the insurance industry attracted by the magic of averages as a means of redistributing wealth. His ambition is to become the top Actuary of the company. However the company has different ideas. It puts him in the claims department to deal with people rather than numbers. He has to deal with a series of novel insurance frauds. He relies on the counsel of Ellen, by now a policewoman. Also at Cambridge was Nick, bright, ambitious and ruthless. He joins the same company as Majid Majid had no desire to be the Chief Executive. However he hated losing, especially to Nick. A career-long tussle ensues as they climb corporate ladders and fall down snakes. This is the story of these three people, told from the viewpoint of Majid.