Delighted to receive tickets for the Orwell Prize!
As they say: “The Orwell Prize is Britain’s most prestigious prize for political writing. Every year, we award prizes for the work which comes closest to George Orwell’s ambition ‘to make political writing into an art’.
Will be attending with Ed Spencer as we throw his excellent satirical novel, The People’s Republic of Absurdia, into the mix.
The gist:
Fred McVelly, womanising confidante to the drug-addled President Terry Hair, is having the time of his life. Having masterminded an election victory (sold as a rescue package to combat inequality, energy shortages and environmental disaster but in truth an experiment in how far you can take a prank) he’s now the quasi-leader of the People’s Republic of Britannia – an environmentally fascist nanny state in which each Citizen’s every move is regulated and recorded, banks and big business have been nationalised, and parliament and the monarchy disbanded. Consumerism is cancelled, and even posting a letter on the wrong day can mean getting banged up. In this world of no smart phones, a banned zine calls for revolution. And when Fred chooses heavy-drinking Pontiff for his latest ruse, his mighty kingdom starts to crumble. Exasperated by the nation’s collective idiocy, and engaged in a spot of terrorism himself, Pontiff is no mood to play along. With myriad groups jostling for power, it’s anyone’s guess who’ll come out on top.
This is a book in the tradition of the great novels-of-ideas, evoking Phillip K Dick, Vonnegut and… Orwell. It makes serious points about our future – and present – without taking itself too seriously.
You can get a copy here:
Sigmund Fraud Books 