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Yet for all that, there are moments of pure Amis class in the writing. He has a fine ear for conversation and some of his descriptions of atmospheres are superb. I found myself smiling more at these than at the comic moments in the story though. This is largely my problem with the book: it's well constructed and often told with great skill, but the story itself is not particularly edifying or enlightening. Ultimately, Lionel Asbo is too much of a caricature and not enough of a character, while Des is more of a rounded character, but I just didn't believe in him in the context of his environment. I had the feeling that the best medium for Lionel would have been the pages of ''Viz'' rather than a Martin Amis novel. It also suffers from a slightly fizzled ending but endings have never been an Amis forte in my view.
It's probably a book that will neither convert readers who dislike Amis or disappoint those who love his caustic style. For me though, he feels more at home with the upper -middle classes than in the bargain basement. There's no denying that he does have a terrific turn of phrase though and this just about rescues this book for me.
Our grateful thanks to the kind people at Jonathan Cape for sending us this book. We also have a review of [[Time's Arrow by Martin Amis]].
For more varied London-based state of the nation fare, [[Capital by John Lanchester]] is thought provoking and touches on some similar areas while for more imaginative urban dystopia, [[City of Bohane by Kevin Barry]] is riotously innovative stylish and funny.

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