Arundhati Roy’s second novel to arrive 20 years after her Booker Prize winning debut novel

Twenty years after "God of Small Things" critically acclaimed author and renowned social activist Arundhati Roy will publish her second work of fiction, "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness", which is set to be published in June next year.

The announcement was made by publisher Penguin India in a Facebook post on Monday.

The post quoted Ray saying, “l am glad to report that the mad souls (even the wicked ones) in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness have found a way into the world, and that I have found my publishers.”

“Only Arundhati could have written this novel. Utterly original. It has been 20 years in the making. And well worth the wait,” David Godwin, Roy's literary agent said, according to the post.

Roy who was awarded the Booker prize for her debut novel in 1997 has since written on a variety of issues including politics and social issues in India and abroad.

One of her recent works include "Things that Can and Cannot be Said" (published in March 2016), an account of when she along with American actor-producer John Cusack wrote about their well-known meeting with fugitive and American whistleblower Edward Snowden in a Moscow hotel in December 2014.

Daniel Ellsberg, another American whistleblower was with the duo in the Ritz Hotel suite in Moscow.

In November 2015, Roy returned her national award for Best Screenplay in 1989 for TV film  "In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones" starring Shah Rukh Khan, protesting against the growing intolerance in the country. 

She had declined to accept the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award in 2005.