Set in communist-era Budapest, Tranquility is a psychological novel about a writer and his dysfunctional relationship with his mother and two other women, and is noted for its bleak storyline and its vulgar depictions of violence and sexual activity.

[2] As of 2019, Tranquility has been translated into Spanish, Bulgarian, Polish, German, Romanian, Turkish, English, Estonian, Swedish, Czech, Dutch, Chinese, Russian, Italian, Portuguese and Arabic.

Writing in the Winter 2002 edition of World Literature Today, Clara Györgyey praised the novel, writing, "Bartis's synthesizing energy, the way he brings together ancient myths and "soc-real" outrages, archetypal emotions with slick contemporary manipulations, transfigures reason into a waking dream (à la Péter Nádas) or nightmare."

However, she criticized the novel's "several unwarranted cliches, inadequate explanations, incomplete thoughts, surplus inerstion, and even minor sophomoric idiocies," but concluded that these "stylistic gimmicks" do not reduce the novel's "overall impact.

"[9] Publishers Weekly gave the novel a favourable review, writing, "Oddly beautiful and unsettling, the novel boldly illustrates the lengths people go to in securing their own private hells.

"[5] The novel has also been reviewed in Le Figaro,[10] Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,[11] Die Zeit,[12] Deutschlandfunk,[13] Der Freitag,[14] Chronic'art[15] and Hungarian Literature Online.

The film was directed by Róbert Alföldi and stars Dorottya Udvaros, Zalán Makranczi, Dorka Gryllus and Judit Hernádi.