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Money
A Suicide Note
First published 1984 · 672 pages
A manic, filthy, and hilariously grotesque joyride through the neon-lit excesses of the 1980s.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like being trapped in a transatlantic first-class cabin with the most entertaining, repulsive man alive. It is a feverish, neon-lit descent into the absolute worst of 1980s excess, driven by a protagonist whose appetites for alcohol, fast food, and pornography are as insatiable as they are pathetic. The experience is incredibly propulsive, pulling you through a dizzying blur of hangovers and bad decisions on the strength of its sheer linguistic horsepower. The prose is aggressively stylized, dazzlingly articulate, and unapologetically filthy, making you laugh out loud even as you recoil in disgust. It is a pitch-black, cynical masterpiece that delights readers who love biting satire and are perfectly happy wallowing in the glorious, grotesque muck of human self-destruction.
- Mood
- sleazy
- hangover-soaked
- feverish
- neon-lit
- Tone
- satirical
- manic
- cynical
- grotesque
- hilarious
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- unfettered hedonism · toxic masculinity · consumerist rot · self-destruction · the illusion of control
- The writing
- Hyper-articulate, aggressively stylized, and packed with dazzling, filthy wordplay that crackles with manic energy.
- The arc
- A dizzying, adrenaline-fueled ascent into pure excess that inevitably collapses into a humiliating, hangover-soaked crash.
- Who it's for
- Readers who relish pitch-black satire and are willing to ride shotgun with a spectacularly unlikable, self-destructing antihero.
Content notes
- substance abuse
- alcoholism
- misogyny
- sexual content
- racism
- suicidal ideation
About the book
An anti-hero to beat them all, John Self is a dissipated connoisseur of self-gratification. Addicted to porn, fast-food and money, he lives a culture-less high-life in New York and London, groping his way through a world of all-day hangovers, barely remembered debaucheries and desires that are both pointless and insatiable. In this hilariously grotesque black comedy Amis explores the back streets of the global money conspiracy and explains, in his own unique way, why the men who shape our world are no longer to be trusted.
Description from Open Library.
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