Spud has a very serious accident. Two way-out young neurosurgeons whisk him away to Professor Snood's futuristic laboratory where he is about to become a wheelie-bin with attachments and bio-feedback mechanisms! But Snood wants to make Spud a rocket to explore deep space -- forever. A hilarious, crazy, fast-paced story -- and it's almost believable.
Spud Wilson winds up a head of his time, not to mention ahead of his time when he becomes a disembodied brain in a vat. He begins to realise that Professor Snood has plans for him in the Horsehead Nebula.
On my "Is this a name covenant issue?" shelf. A disembodied head in Welsh mythology is Bran. It's only a short step to Barnes.
I would read and re-read parts of this to my brother when we would kids and we would just kill ourselves laughing. I don't know how many times I read it. Good memories!