High-Rise

Coming in March 2016 from acclaimed director Ben Wheatley, a major motion picture adaptation of J. G. Ballard’s compelling and unnerving tale of what happens when life in a luxury apartment building descends into chaos, starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans and Elisabeth Moss.

‘Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months.’

Within the walls of a high-tech forty-storey high-rise, the residents are hell-bent on an orgy of sex and destruction, answering to primal urges that their utopian surroundings can’t satisfy. The high-rise is a would-be paradise turned dystopia, ruled by intimidation and violence, and, as the residents organize themselves for war, floor against floor, no one wants it to stop …

• Tie-in to film adaptation directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, James Purefoy, Elisabeth Moss and Keeley Hawes.

• J. G. Ballard has sold over 500,000 physical copies TCM (not including pre-Bookscan sales). ‘High-Rise’, first published in 1975, has sold over 30,000 physical copies TCM since 1998.

• ‘High-Rise’ has sold 5897 e-books since June 2012 (as of 8 October 2015)

• J. G. Ballard was at the forefront of modern British fiction for over three decades, achieving remarkable critical acclaim and commercial success. A recent reissue of his backlist included introductions from Zadie Smith, Neil Gaiman, John Lanchester, Ned Beauman (‘High-Rise’), Ali Smith and Deborah Levy.

• Ballard’s ‘Empire of the Sun’, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, was made into a film by Steven Spielberg. The provocative novel ‘Crash’ was later made into an equally controversial film by David Cronenberg.

Competition: Philip K Dick, Martin Amis, Will Self, Ray Bradbury