Martin Amis 
Lionel Asbo 
State of England

Lionel Asbo has just won 139, 999, 999.50 on the Lottery. A horribly violent, but horribly unsuccessful criminal, Lionel s attentions up to now have all been on his nephew, Desmond Pepperdine. He showers him with fatherly advice ( carry a knife ) and introduces Des to the joys of internet porn. Meanwhile, Des desires nothing more than books, a girl to love and to steer clear Uncle Li s psychotic pitbulls, Joe and Jeff. But Lionel s winnings are not necessarily all good news. For Des has a secret, and its discovery could unleash his uncle s implacable vengeance. One of Amis’s funniest novels New Yorker A book that looks at us, laughs at us, looks at us harder, closer, and laughs at us harder and still more savagely Observer