In characteristically daring style, Anthony Burgess combines two responses to Orwell's 1984 in one book.

The first is a sharp analysis: through dialogues, parodies and essays, Burgess sheds new light on what he called an apocalyptic codex of our worst fears, creating a critique that is literature in its own right.

Part two is Burgess's own dystopic vision, written in 1978. He skewers both the present and the future, describing a state where industrial disputes and social unrest compete with overwhelming surveillance, security concerns and the dominance of technology to make life a thing to be suffered rather than lived.

Together these two works form a unique guide to one of the twentieth century's most talented, imaginative and prescient writers. Several decades later, Burgess's most singular work still stands.