Kingdom Come

Description

A masterpiece of fiction from J. G. Ballard, which asks could Consumerism turn into Facism? A gunman opens fire in a shopping mall. Not a terrorist, apparently, but a madman with a rifle. Or not, as he is mysteriously (and quickly) set free without charge. One of the victims is the father of Richard Pearson, unemployed advertising executive and life-long rebel. Now he is driving out to Brooklands, the apparently peaceful town on the M25 which has at its heart the shining shoppers' paradise where the shooting happened - the Metro-Centre. Richard, determined to unravel the mystery, starts to believe that something deeply sinister lurks behind the pristine facades of the labyrinthine mall, its 24-hour cable TV and sports club. In this, his final novel, Ballard holds up a mirror to Middle England, reflecting an unsettling image of suburbia and revealing the darker forces at work beneath the gloss of consumerism and flag-waving patriotism. This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard's works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Ned Beauman, Ali Smith, Neil Gaiman and Martin Amis) and brand-new cover designs.

J.G. Ballard was born in 1930 in Shanghai, where his father was a businessman. After internment in a civilian prison camp, he and his family returned to England in 1946. His 1984 bestseller 'Empire of the Sun' won the Guardian Fiction Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was later filmed by Steven Spielberg. His most recent novel was 'Millennium People', published in 2003.

'Dystopias are Ballard's stock-in-trade and, when on song, he animates them better than anyone else!it takes a master novelist to pick out the small details!fascinating.' Sunday Telegraph 'It is his ability to summon a deteriorated but recognisable modern world into being that makes him among the finest dystopians at work.' Sunday Times 'We're in Ballard-land, his old archetypes at war in a familiar-yet-strange terrain, and that should be compelling enough for any reader!Ballard, paradoxically, with all his characters gripped by obsession and necessity, is one of the great novelists of freedom.' Financial Times '"Kingdom Come" looks like a report on the state of modern Britain, but it's really a report on the state of J.G. Ballard's head, and the good news is that it's as fertile as ever!"Kingdom Come" is impressively packed with brilliant apercus.' Observer 'Mesmeric!you read this novel for his prescient vision, his acute insights and his shards of wit.' Tatler 'The magus of Shepperton is on tip-top form. No-one writes with such enchanted clarity or strange power as James Graham Ballard.' Scotsman '"Kingdom Come" encapsulates everything for which J.G.Ballard is admired!Simply put, "Kingdom Come" distils the best of Ballard to confirm he is still one of our finest living novelists.' Metro '"Kingdom Come" is important, germaine, timely and creepy, a tidal wrack of ideas washed up on the artificial beach of our resort culture.' Will Self '"Kingom Come" is a worthy addition to an extraordinary body of work. It is impossible to read one of JG Ballard's books and not to marvel at his style and ability to capture the times in which we live. His writing has been a source of excitement and inspiration to me since I was reading library books under the covers by the light of a battery torch.' Louise Welsh 'Entertaining!fragmented narratives!emerge as perfect, threatening little Ballardian vignettes.' TLS 'J.G. Ballard is the undisputed laureate of suburban psychosis!"Kingdom Come" is a brilliant novel.' Literary Review