Machines Like Me occurs in an alternative 1980s London. Charlie, drifting through life and dodging full-time employment, is in love with Miranda, a bright student who lives with a terrible secret. When Charlie comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first batch of synthetic humans. With Mirandas assistance, he co-designs Adams personality. This near-perfect human is beautiful, strong and clever a love triangle soon forms. These three beings will confront a profound moral dilemma. Ian McEwans subversive and entertaining new novel poses fundamental questions: what makes us human Our outward deeds or our inner lives Could a machine understand the human heart This provocative and thrilling tale warns of the power to invent things beyond our control.