Money, Speculation and Finance in Contemporary British Fiction

by Nicky Marsh

Fiction has become increasingly concerned with the political and imaginative significance of finance, speculation and the money markets - from Ian Fleming's Goldfinger to Jonathan Coe's What a Carve Up and Martin Amis' Money. This book argues that recent British fiction demystifies the 'weightless' economy of contemporary money and critiques the popular sense of money as being everywhere but nowhere. The monograph provides a comprehensive survey of a large body of fictional texts that have striven to represent and understand the formative significance of finance capital on contemporary culture. In these novels, the implications of finance capitalism for political identity, for class politics, for the sovereignty of the nation state and a new global order are all explored, dramatised and critiqued. Authors covered include Margaret Drabble, Ian McEwan, Jonathan Coe, Alan Hollinghurst, Martin Amis and Malcolm Bradbury.

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Tom Calvard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps a slightly niche and dated book but I enjoyed it. Achieves what it sets out to do. A good survey of UK novels in financial settings and some of the deeper issues about money and financial trading/speculation they have influenced and sought to represent in the 20th century