1. His father adopted the last name Rushdie inspired by the 12th-century Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd. This classical writer was a believer in treating philosophical thinking as a companion to religion rather than an opponent. Very apt for Rushdie who would eventually get in trouble for his own philosophical musings.

2. Rushdie wanted to be a writer since he was five years old. As a young boy, his father would read to him from One Thousand And One Nights and The Mahabharata. Both texts would become major influences for him with their grand settings and mystical narratives.

3. Rushdie originally had more dramatic ambitions, having performed in fringe theatre during his time at Cambridge. He has appeared as himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm offering Larry David advice for dating under a fatwa, and in Bridget Jones’ Diary directing Renée Zellweger to the bathroom.

4. He missed an opportunity to star in Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby in 2006. The film was pitched as an ‘Untitled Will Ferrell Nascar Movie’ and was set to include a scene with Lou Reed, Julian Schnabel and Rushdie as unlikely racing drivers. Unfortunately, this setpiece was scrapped due to scheduling conflicts, much to our loss.

5. Rushdie worked as an advertising copywriter for ten years. During this time, he came up with Aero Chocolate’s ‘Irresistibubble’ campaign after a colleague starting panicking about a deadline. Rushdie said the man kept stuttering ‘it’s impossib-ib-ib-ible’, after which he began writing down as many words he could think of ending in ‘ible’ and ‘able’.

6. After the publication of his 2012 memoir, Joseph Anton, Rushdie’s undercover identity was revealed to the world. Created using the first names of favourite authors, Conrad and Chekhov, other suggestions included Marcel Beckett, Vladimir Joyce, and Franz Sterne. Joseph Anton won the day when his bodyguards began affectionately calling him Joe. 

7. During his time in hiding, Rushdie spent some time in north Wales. He lay low in his former literary agent’s rural farm in the remote area of Powys, and frequented a bed and breakfast in the area, owned by a former police officer.

8. At one point during his spell undercover, someone suggested he wear a disguise while out in public. Rushdie said in an interview that he tried it on in London once, but he kept getting asked whether he was ‘Salman Rushdie in a wig’. After that he stuck with the simple but classic dark shades and hat.

9. Rushdie’s sophomore novel Midnight’s Children has been voted the best ever winner of the Booker Prize, not once but twice. The first time in 1993 to coincide with the award’s 25th anniversary, and again in 2008 for the 40th anniversary.

10. The Ground Beneath Her Feet is a mythological retelling wrapped in a rock star’s clothing. In 2000, real-life rocker Bono called Rushdie, asking him if he could write music to accompany some lyrics written in the novel. The song made it to number two on the US Alternative music chart with Rushdie appearing in the video.

11. PEN Canada once secretly arranged for Rushdie to travel to Toronto and appear at their 1992 Gala. The organisation, which fights for freedom of expression, found themselves coordinating with intelligence agencies through payphones to make it happen. For a while, a group of Canadian literary agents only knew Rushdie and his wife as ‘Harry’ and ‘Sally’.

12. When living with a death threat over your head, love may be the last thing on your list of worries. However, when once asked whether he managed to date and have relationships with a fatwa against him, Rushdie candidly said ‘let’s put it like this: people should not feel sorry for me.’

Salman Rushdie: Knife – Meditations After An Attempted Murder is published by Jonathan Cape on Tuesday 16 April; main picture: Rachel Eliza Griffiths.