Contemporary British Fiction

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. Notes on Contributors.

General Introduction: Contemporary British Fiction. (Rod Mengham).

Part I: Myth and History.

Introduction. (Richard J. Lane and Philip Tew).

1. Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy . (John Brannigan).

2. The Fiction of Jim Crace. (Richard J. Lane).

3. The Novels of Graham Swift. (Tamas Benyei).

4. The Fiction of Iain Sinclair. (Rod Mengham).

Part II: Urban Thematics.

Introduction. (Richard J. Lane and Philip Tew).

5. The Fiction of Will Self. (Liorah Anne Golomb).

6. Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia. (Anthony Ilona).

7. Zadie Smith's White Teeth. (Dominic Head).

8. The Fiction of A. L. Kennedy. (Philip Tew).

Part III: Cultural Hybridity.

Introduction. (Richard J. Lane and Philip Tew).

9. Salman Rushdie. (Stephen Baker).

10. The Fiction of James Kelman and Irvine Welsh. (Drew Milne).

11. Caryl Phillips. (Brad Buchanan).

Part IV: Pathological Subjects.

Introduction. (Richard J. Lane and Philip Tew).

12. The Fiction of Angela Carter. (Robert Eaglestone).

13. Jeanette Winterson's Evolving Subject. (Kim Middleton Meyer).

14. Kazuo Ishiguro and the Work of Art. (Mark Wormald).

15. The Fiction of Martin Amis. (James Diedrick).

Glossary of Major Theoretical Sources. (Richard J. Lane and Philip Tew).

Index.

"[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

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.

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.