His works are noted for their multi-layered humour, trenchant criticism of the socio-political classes and ability to twist the meanings of words contextually and lend a touch of magic to his language.

The experiences he gained during these years, which coincided with the nascent post-independent India, are reflected in his book, Pitamahan (The Great Grandfather).

Anything from under the sun, from contemporary politics to primitive occultism, from modern astrophysics to Chanakya's Arthashastra, or from Das Kapital to Kamasutra, was a narrative device for him, which he brought into play in his stories and novels.

It was the group of young writers who happened to come together on various professional engagements in the country's capital that made Malayalam literature, fiction in particular, what it is today.

These writers used to meet regularly to thrash out literature, politics or whatever else was the topic of the day – a preparation that capacitated them to accomplish new heights in writing.

Those interactions, evidently, helped him be conversant with the latest developments in literature and consummate his style that is full of vim and vigour.

The institutionalisation of unscrupulous political manipulations, power brokerage, corruption and the murky dealings in the corridors of power; all that to which he became a silent, nonetheless alert, head-on witness deepened his distrust of the entire social and political order.

He called his novels "Pennpada", "Manchal" and "Pithamahan" "historical satires", a new genre he created.

VKN's important works are Pithamahan (The Great Grandfather), Arohanam, which literally means "The Ascend" but "Bovine Bugles" in the author's own translation, Adhikaram (The Power), Payyan Kathakal (The Stories of Payyan), Sir Chathuleecock, Kavi (The Saffron), Chathans, and Chitrakeralam (Kerala Pictures).

But, be it about the misuse of power, the abuse of female body, the libertinism of the affluent, or about the fate of the poor of the day; his narration was historically and politically many-voiced.