In 1984, Anthony Burgess published Ninety-Nine Novels, a selection of his favourite novels in English since 1939. The list is typically idiosyncratic, and shows the breadth of Burgess's interest in fiction. This podcast, by the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, explores the novels on Burgess's list with the help of writers, critics and other special guests.

In this episode, Will Carr is joined by writer and researcher Matthew Crowley to discuss John Braine’s 1957 novel Room at the Top.

The novel follows Joe Lampton, recently demobilised from the army following the end of the Second World War and eager to transcend his working-class origins and make a name for himself. His ruthless ambition leads him to a world of wealth and glamour, but his struggles to escape his past lead to tragedy.

John Braine was born in Bradford in 1922. After his debut novel Room at the Top, he was labelled as one if the Angry Young Men novelists. After his first novel was adapted into a film in 1959, he went on to write twelve more novels, including the sequel Life at the Top in 1962. He also wrote three books of non-fiction, including a biography of fellow-Bradfordian J.B.Priestly. He died in 1986.

Matthew Crowley is a London based writer, researcher, artist and educator. He is currently Senior Lecturer and Critical Practice Coordinator and Chelsea College of Arts, UAL. Matthew writes theory, criticism, and fiction and is the author of the book Representations of Working-Class Masculinities in Post-War British Culture: The Left Behind (Routledge, 2020), the chapters ‘The Survival of Modernism’ in Companion

to British and Irish Literature and Culture (Wiley, 2027) and ‘Angry Young Men? A Product of Their Time’ in The 1950s: A Decade of Modern British Fiction (Bloomsbury, 2018). He has also published the fictional work ‘The Causeway’ in the anthology Beyond, published by Hyperidean. Matthew also regularly speaks, lectures, facilitates workshops, and exhibits work. Recent events include RSA Experience: Democracy and Culture, Politics, Power and the Arts at the Royal Society of Arts and the exhibition of TIDINGS Tide 1: Tilbury, June 2025 a participatory artwork which exploring the ‘industrial South’ of the Thames estuary.

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BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

By John Braine:

Life at the Top (1962)

By others:

Cré na Cille by Máirtín Ó Cadhain (1949)

Malone Dies by Samuel Beckett (1951)

Declaration, edited by Tom Maschler (1957)

Report on the Construction of Situations by Guy Debord (1957)

Culture and Society by Raymond Williams (1958)

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe (1958)

This Sporting Life by David Storey (1960)

The Lowlife by Alexander Baron (1963)

Representations of Working-Class Life 1957-1964 by Stuart Laing (1986)

Tomorrow They Won't Dare to Murder Us by Joseph Andras (2021)

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LINKS

Representations of Working-Class Masculinities in Post-War British Culture: The Left Behind by Matthew Crowley (affiliate link)

International Anthony Burgess Foundation

Burgess Foundation newsletter at Substack

Burgess Foundation affiliate bookshop at Bookshop.org

Donate to support the Burgess Foundation's charitable work

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1984, Anthony Burgess published Ninety-Nine Novels, a selection of his favourite novels in English since 1939. The list is typically idiosyncratic, and shows the breadth of Burgess's interest in fiction. This podcast, by the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, explores the novels on Burgess's list with the help of writers, critics and other special guests.

In this episode, we’re exploring the political world of Africa as depicted in A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe. Joining us is Achebe’s biographer Terri Ochiagha.

A Man of the People follows Odili, a young teacher who is promised an opportunity to study in England by the extravagant politician Nanga. As Odili is granted access to Nanga’s inner world he grows disillusioned with the corruption and greed of his host and swears to challenge him in an election. But what are Odili’s motives and can he resist the corrupting nature of power?

Chinua Achebe was born in 1930 in Nigeria. His first novel, Things Fall Apart, was published in 1958 and its later inclusion in the Heinemann African Writers Series brought him global recognition. He wrote four further novels, with Anthills of the Savannah being nominated for the Booker Prize in 1987. He also published short stories, essays, poetry and several books for children. He died in 2013.

Terri Ochiagha is a Lecturer in Global Anglophone Literatures at the University of Edinburgh, a Non-Resident Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Studies at Harvard, and a Senior Member of Robinson College, University of Cambridge. Her first book, Achebe and Friends at Umuahia: The Making of a Literary Elite (2015), won the African Studies Association of the UK’s Fage and Oliver Prize. She published A Short History of Things Fall Apart in 2018 and is currently working on two major Achebe projects: his first full length biography, to be published by Princeton University Press, and an edited collection of essays, Achebe in Context, which will be published by Cambridge University Press.

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BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

By Chinua Achebe:

Things Fall Apart (1958)

Chike and the River (1966)

By others:

The Ambassadors by Henry James (1903)

The Concubine by Elechi Amadi (1966)

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LINKS

Achebe and Friends at Umuahia: The Making of a Literary Elite by Terri Ochiagha (affiliate link).

A Short History of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart by Terri Ochiagha (affiliate link).

International Anthony Burgess Foundation

Burgess Foundation newsletter at Substack

Burgess Foundation affiliate bookshop at Bookshop.org

Donate to support the Burgess Foundation's charitable work

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1984, Anthony Burgess published Ninety-Nine Novels, a selection of his favourite novels in English since 1939. The list is typically idiosyncratic, and shows the breadth of Burgess's interest in fiction. This podcast, by the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, explores the novels on Burgess's list with the help of writers, critics and other special guests.

In this episode, Andrew Biswell has a wide-ranging conversation with Paul Theroux about his memories of Anthony Burgess, his new book True North, and his 1981 novel The Mosquito Coast.

The Mosquito Coast follows Allie Fox, a genius inventor who believes twentieth-century America has become corrupt. He takes his family to Honduras to set up an isolated settlement in the jungle, but Allie’s utopian ideals begin to fall apart when he is faced with hostile weather, disease and bandits. Through the eyes of his son, Charlie, Allie’s attempts to create a new world begin to look a lot like madness.

Paul Theroux has written many works of fiction and travel writing, including the modern classics The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, and My Secret History. His most famous novel, The Mosquito Coast, was adapted into a film starring Harrison Ford in 1986, and into a television series starring Justin Theroux in 2021. Paul won the Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing 2020. His new book, True North: On the Road in Canada, is out now.

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BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

By Paul Theroux:

The Great Railway Bazaar (1975)

The Old Patagonian Express (1979)

The Kingdom by the Sea (1983)

My Secret History (1989)

Burma Sahib (2024)

By others:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884)

The Beast in the Jungle by Henry James (1903)

His Monkey Wife by John Collier (1930)

Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)

The Malayan Trilogy by Anthony Burgess (1956-59)

Inside Mr Enderby and Enderby Outside in The Complete Enderby by Anthony Burgess (1963-84)

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)

Nothing Like the Sun by Anthony Burgess (1964)

ABBA ABBA by Anthony Burgess (1977)

The Real Life of Anthony Burgess by Andrew Biswell (2005)

Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess (1980)

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LINKS

True North: On the Road in Canada by Paul Theroux (affiliate link)

Paul Theroux online

International Anthony Burgess Foundation

Burgess Foundation newsletter at Substack

Burgess Foundation affiliate bookshop at Bookshop.org

Donate to support the Burgess Foundation's charitable work

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.