Ten Novels About a Dystopian UK

 APRIL is MORE 'Dystopian Britain Novels' Month

 

Ten Novels About a Dystopian UK

 

So.....after spending some years reading and reviewing novels about a dystopian UK, I've come up with ten such novels that treat the subject. Of these ten, I'd select 'Pendulum,' 'Albion, Albion !,' 'Noah's Castle,' 'Tracer,' and 'Whole Wide World,' as the best.

Pendulum (1968), by John Christopher: in a late 1960s / early 1970s alternate UK, prosperous, middle-aged businessman Rod Gawfrey finds his comfortable existence turned upside-down when the nation’s youth overthrow the government. Gawfrey and his fellow citizens struggle to survive in a society where confrontations with truculent youngsters can have immediate, and quite violent, consequences.

 

Scotch on the Rocks (1968) by Douglas Hurd and Andrew Osmond: it’s the early 1970s, and the Scotts are greatly displeased to see North Sea oil fueling prosperity in England while their own country struggles. The Scottish Liberation Party (SLP) is willing to use violence in an effort to spark a people’s uprising and a chance for independence. Can an undercover operative working for British Intelligence reveal the SLP’s commander in time to prevent bloodshed ?

 

The ‘F’ Certificate (1970), by David Gurney: in an early 70s UK, ever-growing packs of young people who call themselves ‘Drummers’ are wandering the landscape, riding primordial Segways. Even when stoned on a heroin-like drug, the Drummers have an unnerving propensity for sudden violence. Film producer John Breen is aghast to find the Drummers trespassing on his country estate, but the UK government is too hesitant and befuddled to offer much in the way of assistance. 

 

If You Believe the Soldiers (1973), by Alexander Cordell: this novel is set in the UK in the early 1980s. The economic travails of the 1970s have resulted in a coup, carried out by a right-wing Army officer named Colonel 'Bull' Brander. The UK is under authoritarian rule, but the protagonist, a man named Mark Seaton, mounts a quiet defiance in his role as a contracting agent for the government. However, as the country descends into outright fascism, Seaton finds himself committed to more overt actions, and this can be quite dangerous to one’s health. 

 

Albion ! Albion ! (1974) by Dick Moreland (aka Reginald Hill): it’s the early 1990s ad the UK has descended into anarchy. Most of the cities are trash-strewn wastelands where no one ventures out after dark, save those with a penchant for mayhem. The country is divided into four ‘quadrants,’ with each quadrant ruled by ‘football’ (i.e., soccer) clubs, whose commands are enforced by squads of hooligans. Journalist Whitey Singleton finds himself stranded in this dystopian Britain, and obliged to form alliances with people for whom savagery is a way of life. 

 

Noah’s Castle (1975) by John Rowe Townsend:  Norman Mortimer, a former Army quartermaster, foresees the economic collapse of the UK and sets his family up in a sturdy, defensible home with a well-stocked basement. When the collapse comes, it awakens the political consciousness of teenager Barry Mortimer and forces him to decide between the welfare of his family, and the ‘greater good.’ Author Townsend is skilled at depicting the slow infiltration of deprivation, hunger, and political violence into a disbelieving society.

 

Survivors (1975) by Terry Nation: this is a novelization of the 1975 – 1977 BBC TV show. The premise: a global pandemic wipes out most of the planet’s population, and civilization collapses. Brits of various classes converge on The Grange, an estate in the country, there to try and rebuild their lives as best they can. Author Nation focuses on the nuts and bolts of living in a post-apocalyptic society, with Modern Man obliged to tackle - often at a disadvantage - the realities of weeds, mud, vermin, and weather.  

  

Quatermass (1979) by Nigel Kneale: this is a novelization of a 1979 ITV show. It’s set in a 1980s UK, where London is a wasteland ruled by vicious street gangs who vie with South African mercenaries for whatever food and goods remain in the destroyed shops. In the countryside, life has regressed to a subsistence level. A hippie cult called the ‘Planet People’ is channeling an End Times religion, one that may be invoking deadly, and otherworldly, forces. Quatermass, now a man in his 80s, embarks on a dangerous search for his granddaughter Hettie; his journeys across a dystopian UK showcase a civilization in collapse.

 

Tracer (1990), by Stuart Jackson: in 1990, mass sickness and death caused by the AIDS epidemic has led to the imposition of a totalitarian government, which requires all infected individuals to report to ‘Special Care Centres’ for indefinite quarantine. Protagonist Nick Gorman is a ‘Tracer,’ assigned to locate and apprehend anyone trying to evade the mandate. The novel’s opening third does a good job of presenting a near-future UK in the grip of fear and loathing over a deadly communicable disease, and brings (uncomfortably) to mind the real-world government policies operating in the initial years of the covid-19 epidemic. 

 

Whole Wide World (2001), by Paul McAuley: this novel is set in a UK of the mid-2010s, several years after the 'InfoWar', a mass riot perpetrated by antifas, nearly eliminated the nation's telecommunications grid. An authoritarian government now uses cyber-police agencies to monitor content on the Web and suppress dissent. Protagonist John is a middle-aged policeman whose investigation into the murder of a young woman leads to unpleasant revelations about the bureaucrats who are intent on turning the country into a surveillance state.

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And there you have it. I'm aware that there are other novels out there that could qualify for this list (such as Wilfred Greatorex's '1990'), but getting ahold of some of those is not easy. If anyone wants to nominate some additional entries for this category, drop a Comment !