This important new book provides a comprehensive introduction to British fiction from 1979 to the present. The volume outlines the main developments in contemporary fiction and engages with key themes such as cultural identity, gender, myth and history, postcolonialism and urban culture. In a series of lively and accessible essays, key critics introduce a broad range of leading British writers, including Salman Rushdie, Jeanette Winterson, Will Self, Pat Barker, Kazuo Ishiguro, Martin Amis and Zadie Smith. Offering an illuminating analysis and contextualiztion of British fiction today, this book will be essential reading for students and scholars of contemporary literature.

About the Author
Richard J. Lane is Senior Lecturer in English at South Bank University, London and Reader in British and Postcolonial Studies, at the University of Debrecen, Hungary.

Rod Mengham is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge and Director of Studies in English, Jesus College, Cambridge.

Philip Tew is Reader in English and Aesthetics at the University of Central England in Birmingham, and Reader in English & Aesthetics at the University of Debrecen, Hungary.

Reviews
"[An] insightful, perceptive and nuanced analysis ... the collection is a landmark in the critical analysis of current literary culture." Times Higher Education Supplement

"I was impressed by the range and conscientious skill of the critics... this collection discusses much of the best in contemporary British writing, and deserves to be successful." Sir Frank Kermode, formerly King Edward Professor of English at Cambridge

"An admirably ambitious attempt to map the contemporary literary scene, impressive both in the range and the depth of its coverage. Certainly the sharpest and most up-to-date book I have read on the subject." Jonathan Coe

Book Information
ISBN 9780745628677
Author Richard Lane
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 426g
Dimensions(mm) 231mm * 152mm * 20mm