A collection of Kafkas greatest short fiction translated by Michael HofmannKafkas masterpiece of unease and black humour Metamorphosis the story of an ordinary man transformed into an insect is brought together in this collection with the rest of his works that he thought worthy of publication. It includes Contemplation a collection of his earlier short studies The Judgement written in a single night of frenzied creativity The Stoker the first chapter of a novel set in America and an eyewitness account of an air display. Together these stories fragments and miniature gems reveal the breadth of his vision his sense of the absurd and above all his acute uncanny wit. Translated with an introduction by Michael Hofmann