The People's Republic of Absurdia

Ed Spencer’s debut novel is a timely political-satire-cum-black-comedy-thriller, an exquisitely funny and frightening take on that most prescient of debates – the erosion of civil liberties. In Absurdia he poses how a perfect storm of inequality, data gathering and environmental meltdown leads to extraordinary repression, all made possible by a most despicable practical joke…

Following the outbreak of the Plasticitis plague, Britain is in meltdown. The landfills of unfettered consumerism have burst and deadly effluent seeps from the earth and sea. There are energy shortages, non-existent public services, and millions dying – and Fred McVelly, womanising confidante to the drug-addled Premier, Terry Hair, is having the time of his life.

Having masterminded an election victory sold as a rescue package (but in truth an experiment in how far you can take a prank) Fred is now the quasi-leader of the People’s Republic of Britannia – an environmentally fascist nanny state in which each person’s every move is regulated and recorded through Citizens’ Accounts linked to ID cards, Parliament and the Monarchy are branded ‘unhelpful’ and disbanded, and having a drink on the wrong day can mean getting banged up. All necessary as the ‘environment has been trampled on and it is imperative to step lightly.’

With Fred’s every whim implemented and laws becoming more and more severe, a banned zine resurfaces, calling for revolution. To demonstrate the government ‘winning the battle for hearts and minds’, Fred concocts a tabloid campaign, enlisting the help of media mogul, Signor Oli Garqi. But when Fred chooses Pontiff to be the star of the show, a man he believes to be a heavy-drinking down-and-out, things don’t go to plan. Fresh out of a LifeManagement4Life Institute and exasperated by the nation’s collective idiocy, Pontiff is in no mood to play along. Especially given he's keen to get stuck into a spot of terrorism.

As myriad groups jostle for power, a raft of hilarious and grotesque characters discover they are connected in ways they didn’t imagine. But all are united in one thing: the battle to stay alive. It’s anyone’s guess who’ll come out on top.

Deadly serious and a lot of fun, fans of Orwell, Vonnegut and Phillip K. Dick will find much to enjoy here. This is the novel for our bizarre times.