On the Floor is set in the world of high finance during the late 1980s. You were Morgan Stanley's first female MD on the trading floor. How much did you draw on your own experience?
It's not my story, but obviously there were elements. The trading floor is very fast-moving. You have very little free time. I once worked out that I had about 11 free hours a week. My heroine only goes home once in the entire novel. She's just too busy. But I loved the business.
What do the trading floor and writing novels have in common?
Markets are made up of humans. Companies are run by humans. Everybody's life is shaped by economics, whether you are rich or poor. In order to understand the concepts behind the financial markets, you don't have to understand all the instruments. You do need to see the big picture. Novels can do this. The problem is that too many simplify the story into good versus evil.
Your heroine, Geri Molloy, is one of the few women working in a very male, even macho, environment. How challenging is it for women to be successful in the city?
The atmosphere is a bit like a locker room. Men can become very puerile very quickly if they're in a pack, but also very funny. I am very interested in women at work, and especially in high-stakes environments where on paper the odds are stacked against you. I want to explore what else inhibits women in the workplace. I am fascinated by how few women use the word 'ambitious' to describe themselves, as if it was unfeminine. Women take this on board. When female journalists interview me, they want to discuss my personal life - my post-natal depression. Men ask about the markets, about the job.