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Published: 1st June 2012

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A savage and biting satire from one of Britain's finest writers.

Lionel Pepperdine is England's pre-eminent yob. A churlish and unashamedly savage reprobate, he was served his first Anti-Social Behaviour Order aged three, for the application of explosives to excrement. It was the start of an inimitable career.

By the age of twenty-two, Lionel is a hardened petty criminal enjoying the rewards of extortion and stolen property, and the thrills of Grievous Bodily Harm. He has proudly had his name changed to Asbo, by deed poll. In an endless cycle of incarceration, it is while 'mucking out' in a London prison one morning that news of his greatest Success arrives: he has won the National Lottery, just shy of a hundred million pounds. 'Well at least this proves that God has a sense of humour,' says the prison governor.

What follows is a sinister thriller and comic tour de force told by Lionel's honest, intelligent, and frighteningly vulnerable nephew Desmond, who lives in the shadow of Lionel's limitless anger, piqued by his own dirty secret. Most of all, it is a satire on the state of the nation: England, lost in a garish limbo of impotence, rage, and virtuoso vulgarity.

About the Author

Martin Amis is a British novelist, the author of many novels including Money (1984) and London Fields (1989). He was the Professor of Creative Writing at the Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester, but stepped down at the end of the 2010/11 academic year. The Times named him in 2008 as one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.

"Martin Amis's Lionel Asbo made me laugh (as any novel driven by incestuous relations with your grandmother should) and then feel ashamed for that laughter (as any novel driven by incestuous relations with your grandmother should)." -- James Kidd Independent "It's a Big Mac made from filet mignon... It is a book of lovehate. It is a powershake. And the biggest joy is that Amis seems to find himself (and finds us, by extension) loving the thing he loathes... So let's give thanks that Martin Amis was bad enough and brave enough to write it" -- Nicola Barker Observer "This is still a Martin Amis novel, full of tense, fugitive moments...had me roaring with laughter." -- DJ Taylor Independent "Being an Amis novel it's not without the odd good joke, and he is, of course, incapable of writing and inelegant line. (It's almost as if he alone can sense both the golden ratio of a sentence, and its perfect rhythm: it's like he's Michelangelo and Keith Moon)." -- David Annand Sunday Telegraph "As soon as you begin this novel, it is clear that Amis does indeed love his monstrous invention, Lionel Asbo. Lionel is a fantastic brute... Amis's delight in the incorrigible is genuinely Dickensian... This is a verbally inventive comedy...to be enjoyed in the same spirit as Little Britain... It's a hoot." -- David Sexton Evening Standard

ISBN: 9780224096218
ISBN-10: 0224096214
Audience: General
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 288
Published: 1st June 2012
Dimensions (cm): 23.3 x 15.6  x 2.2
Weight (kg): 0.38