by J. G. Ballard (Author), Ned Beauman (Introduction)
From the author of `Crash' and `Cocaine Nights' comes an unnerving tale of life in a modern tower block running out of control.
Within the concealing walls of an elegant forty-storey tower block, the affluent tenants are hell-bent on an orgy of destruction. Cocktail parties degenerate into marauding attacks on `enemy' floors and the once-luxurious amenities become an arena for riots and technological mayhem.
In this visionary tale of urban disillusionment society slips into a violent reverse as the isolated inhabitants of the high-rise, driven by primal urges, create a dystopian world ruled by the laws of the jungle.
This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard's works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Iain Sinclair, Ali Smith, Neil Gaiman and Martin Amis) and brand-new cover designs.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 272
Edition: 1
Publisher: Firebird Distributing
Published: 21 Aug 1985
ISBN 10: 0586044566
ISBN 13: 9780586044568
Book Overview: From the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Cocaine Nights comes an acclaimed backlist title -- the unnerving tale of life in a modern tower block running out of control -- now reissued in new cover style. / J.G. Ballard has been at the forefront of modern British fiction for over three decades, achieving remarkable critical acclaim and commercial success / His work ranges from the hugely popular Empire of the Sun, based on his experiences in a Japanese POW camp, via experimental novels such as Crash, a controversial tale of sex and cars, to unnerving visions of worlds gone wrong, as in his most recent novel, Cocaine Nights, in which an idyllic retirement home in Spain hides a secret world of crime, drugs and illicit sex / First published in 1975, High-Rise is one of his most admired novels -- an alarming vision of the near future -- now being reissued in Perennial as part of a repackaging of the Ballard backlist / Competition: Philip K Dick, Martin Amis, Will Self, Ray Bradbury
`Ballard's finest novel ... a triumph' The Times
`ingenious ... `High-Rise' is an intense and vivid bestiary, which lingers unsettlingly in the mind' Martin Amis
`Chilling ... Ballard is a prophetic writer' Sunday Times
`The writing is cool, the observation exact, the idea bold and well-developed; everything seems to demand attention and analysis' Financial Times
`The terrifying thing about Ballard is his logic; is this science fiction or history written ahead of its time?' Len Deighton
J. G. Ballard was born in 1930 in Shanghai. After internment in a civilian prison camp, his family returned to England in 1946. His 1984 bestseller `Empire of the Sun' won the Guardian Fiction Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. His controversial novel `Crash' was made into a film by David Cronenberg. His autobiography `Miracles of Life' was published in 2008, and a collection of interviews with the author, `Extreme Metaphors', was published in 2012. J. G. Ballard passed away in 2009.