Martin Amis 
Lionel Asbo 
State of England

A savage, funny, and mysteriously poignant saga by a renowned author at the height of his powers. Lionel Asbo, a terrifying yet weirdly loyal thug (self-named after England’s notorious Anti-Social Behaviour Order), has always looked out for his ward and nephew, the orphaned Desmond Pepperdine . . . He provides him with fatherly career advice (always carry a knife, for example) and is determined they should share the joys of pit bulls (fed with lots of Tabasco sauce), Internet porn, and all manner of more serious criminality. Des, on the other hand, desires nothing more than books to read and a girl to love (and to protect a family secret that could be the death of him). But just as he begins to lead a gentler, healthier life, his uncleonce again in a London prisonwins AAAa Aa AAa Aa Aa AAAa AAAAa AAAa AAAAa Aa AA!AAAa Aa AAa AAAa AA!AAAAAa AA!AAa Aa AAGBP140 million in the lottery and upon his release hires a public relations firm and begins dating a cannily ambitious topless model and ’;poet.’ Strangely, however, Lionel’s true nature remains uncompromised while his problems, and therefore also Desmond’s, seem only to multiply.From the Hardcover edition.