Money (1984)
Ad-man John Self shuttles on the red-eye between London and the “smiting light and island rain” of New York, trying to make his first movie. But his appetite for booze, porn and fast food (he’s “addicted to the 20th century”) leads to his self-destruction. A 400-page riff with “oodles of dash and heft and twang”, stuffed with unforgettable set pieces, Money is a comic masterpiece underpinned with sadness.
In a nutshell: his best novel; it’s not even close.
