1985

In characteristically daring style, Anthony Burgess combines two responses to Orwell's 1984 in one book. The first is a sharp analysis: through dialogues, parodies and essays, Burgess sheds new light on what he called 'an apocalyptic codex of our worst fears', creating a critique that is literature in its own right. Part two is Burgess' own dystopic vision, written in 1978. He skewers both the present and the future, describing a state where industrial disputes and social unrest compete with overwhelming surveillance, security concerns and the dominance of technology to make life a thing to be suffered rather than lived. Together these two works form a unique guide to one of the twentieth century's most talented, imaginative and prescient writers. Several decades later, Burgess' most singular work still stands. Ingenious, chilling and darkly comic, 1985 combines a devastating critique of Orwell's 1984 with a terrifying vision of the future. As memorable as A Clockwork Orange, it is as powerful and unsettling as anything Burgess has written. First published in 1978, its thoughts and ideas still hold very true today.