Half an hour in and the convivial conversation is just that little bit more convivial. My entertaining anecdotes are, I am confident, very much more entertaining.
Pouring me another drink, David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College, slaps me on the back and declares that he is slowing down. “I’m beginning to slur a bit,” he says.
Taking a sip I try, and fail, to say “neuropsychopharmacology”.