The Novel Today
A Critical Guide to the British Novel 1970-1989

This is a survey of contemporary British fiction. Focussing primarily on the distinctive achievement and personality of each writer, the author also discusses the contribution of British fiction to such genres as women's writing, the political novel, spy and crime fiction. It addresses questions such as the rise of mass market publishing and the emergence of an international readership in assessing the role of the modern author as we approach the twenty-first century.

The novel today; a personal voice: Anthony Powell, Graham Greene, Iris Murdoch, Muriel Spark, Kingsley Amis The moral imperative: A.S.Byatt; Margaret Drabble, Stanley Middleton, David Storey, Stan Barstow, Alan Sillitoe, William McIlvanney, James Kelman, Alasdair Gray, Iain Crichton Smith Politics and the novel: Doris Lessing, Nadine Gordimer, Brian Moore, William Trevor, V.S.Naipaul, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Piers Paul Read, Fay Weldon Genre fiction: Anthony Burgess, William Golding, Robert Nye, Peter Vansittart, John Banville, J.G.Ballard, Michael Moorcock, John Le Carre, P.D.James, Ruth Rendell The contemporary scene: Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, Ian McEwan, Peter Ackroyd, Salman Rushdie, Angela Carter, Emma Tennant, William Boyd, Alan Judd, Anita Brookner, Penelope Lively, A.N.Wilson, Graham Swift, Kuzuo Ishiguro, Timothy Mo, Peter Carey

Allan Massie CBE is a Scottish journalist, columnist, sports writer and novelist.