Millennium People

To call J G Ballard's work shocking would be an understatement. As the country's most outspoken avant-garde writer, he has taken a multitude of social taboos over time and shamelessly dissected each one in front of his reader. In Cocaine Nights, Ballard exposed a thriving subculture of crime, drugs and illicit sex. In Crash, he unearthed a world of sadomasochism. This latest offering merely reaffirms this gruesome trend by exploring the nihilistic and self-destructive nature of Britain's middle classes. The plot retraces the steps of David Markham, a disillusioned psychologist with a penchant for violent behaviour. When a bomb goes off at Heathrow Airport a fascinated Markham is drawn to the crime scene, only to discover that his ex-wife is among the dead. Expecting the authorities to shy away from the subsequent investigation, he begins to conduct his own search for the killer in the placid suburb of Chelsea Marina. Convinced that the bombing is the work of a radical terrorist group, Markham attends a series of protest rallies, hoping to unravel the mysteries surrounding his wife's tragic death. But, falling in with a shadowy group of anarchists, he quickly loses sight of his good intentions. His memories of the Heathrow bomb become blurred, replaced by utopian dreams and a desire to free the middle classes from the shackles of consumerism. What starts out as one man's quest for understanding soon becomes a search for self-identity, as Markham's life spirals rapidly out of control. Imbued with the brutality of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club, and the imagination of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, Ballard's nightmarish vision of the future is without doubt his most astonishing novel to date. Apocalyptic, atmospheric and typically astute, it confirms that he has lost none of his powers of persuasion. He may occasionally overstep the mark by describing risque subjects in detail, but he is never afraid to speak out for the real Millennium People. (Kirkus UK)