Dead Air [Paperback]

There's no question that the anticipation for each successive Iain Banks novel grows ever greater, and Dead Air is a literary event. The sardonic, inventive prose guarantees a unique reading experience with each new book (the misfires may be counted on one hand), and whatever genre he tackles, Banks is one of the most stimulating writers at work in Britain today.

His protagonist here is Ken Nott, a character as penetratingly realised as ever. He's a committed contrarian, ekeing out a living as a left-wing radio shock-jock in London. He makes his home in a loft apartment in the East End, in a former factory due to be demolished in a few days. After a wedding breakfast, people begin to pitch fruit from a balcony on to a deserted car park 10 storeys below; then they begin dispatching other things: a broken TV, a loudspeaker with a ruptured cone, bean bags and other useless furniture. Then the guests enter a kind of frenzy and start dropping things that are still working, at the same time trashing the rest of the apartment. But suddenly mobile phones start to ring urgently and they're told to turn on the TV, because a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center. And Ken Nott finds his life is to change irrevocably.

Banks's subject here is nothing less than the survival of the individual in the face of a chaotic world. The destruction of personality under the lacerating values of modernity is a subject repeatedly addressed by JG Ballard (and that author's shadow is clearly evident here), and although this is one of the Iain Banks novels in which he pointedly does not use the "M" in his name that marks his science fiction, this nightmare vision of contemporary London has more than a trace of that genre in its sense of fractured reality. But all the caustic humour and dark character development that Banks excels in are fully in place. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

* 'The most imaginative British novelist of his generation' - THE TIMES * 'A Buchanesque adventure yarn set in 21st century London' - THE TIMES * 'Banks has pulled off a great double - a deeply satirical and thought-provoking thriller that will make you laugh but will also have you shredding your fingernails.' - SUNDAY EXPRESS * 'A thrilling read, it's a dazzlingly clever, edgy, suspenseful book.' - SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

Banks's clever, tense book ... a delirious new edge to political argument and sexual encounters. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

A Buchanesque adventure yarn set in 21st-century London. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

A thrilling read, it's a dazzlingly clever, edgy, suspenseful book. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

City life, political integrity and personal trust come under Banks' coruscating spotlight. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Hugely entertaining' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'A Buchanesque adventure yarn set in 21st-century London' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'City life, political integrity and personal trust come under Banks's coruscating spotlight' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'This daring book looks set to become one of the most important novels this year' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Iain Banks' daring new novel opens in a loft apartment in the East End, in a former factory due to be knocked down in a few days. Ken Nott is a devoutly contrarian vaguely left wing radio shock-jock living in London. After a wedding breakfast people start dropping fruits from a balcony on to a deserted carpark ten storeys below, then they start dropping other things; an old TV that doesn't work, a blown loudspeaker, beanbags, other unwanted furniture...Then they get carried away and start dropping things that are still working, while wrecking the rest of the apartment. But mobile phones start ringing and they're told to turn on a TV, because a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Centre. At ease with the volatility of modernity, Iain Banks is also our most accomplished literary writer of narrative-driven adventure stories that never ignore the injustices and moral conundrums of the real world. His new novel, displays his trademark dark wit, buoyancy and momentum.

Iain Banks sprang to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel THE WASP FACTORY in 1984. Since then he has gained enormous public acclaim with further works of fiction, or science fiction as Iain M. Banks.