FEBRUARY 1967: I ride the green bike I got for my birthday along the corridor of the house and fall down the stairs at the end.

MAY 1970: As a left-hander I have to learn to write right-handed at school. I get a bad mark for my awkward wobbly lines.

FEBRUARY 1976: My godfather gives me a course of riding lessons for my birthday. I jump in the air for joy.

APRIL 1977: We move from Langenthal to Winterthur. I literally lose my bearings – I have no sense of direction any more.

FEBRUARY 1987: I meet Sophie in a Jazz club.

NOVEMBER 1989: I visit Sophie in hospital after her operation. Her face is quite green. The night before, the Berlin Wall fell.

JUNE 1992: It becomes clear to me that even in philosophy some thoughts are forbidden.

JANUARY 2001: At the airport I check my bags in for America. I will spend a year there and feel grown up for the first time in my life.

JANUARY 2005: I gather up all my courage and resign from my first permanent job, without having the prospect of anything new.

AUGUST 2012: So that’s what it’s like once the soul has gone, I think, seeing my father’s body laid out.