I cried after I won the Booker.

Listening to the last 10 minutes of the podcast S-Town. It is one of my favourite reminders of what life is truly all about.

In August, when my middle sister called to tell me her breast cancer had spread to her spine, pelvis and bones. It turned out not to be true.

I play Classic FM in the car – emotional music brings me to tears thinking about people I’ve loved and lost.

I like moronic jobs like mowing. I like looking back and admiring the stripes I've created on the lawn.

Having a family can be a rude awakening for some people but it wasn't like that for me. I've absolutely loved it and I still do. I've got two daughters, Polly and Camilla, in their late 20s now. You get these people who say, "Wait for the terrible twos," and, yes, they've had the odd flounce, but they've got increasingly joyful to be around. My wife Alice and I are very close to them and value their company hugely.

That I have lost both my parents.

Specialisation leads to extinction. We are learning more and more but about less and less, and one day we will know everything about nothing. There is nothing wrong with being a populist. It does not have to mean dumbing down, as people think.

I hope that it exists. I'm not sure I can fit everything in before then.

I try to be a Sherlock Holmes of botany. It's not enough to enjoy plants – I want to know why they are wilting, to work things out.