London and the South East by David Szalay

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THIS is David Szalay's first novel, and it's very, very good. It's set in the world of call centres, and has a whiff of The Office — the characters are small-time schmucks but the author pinpoints them so perfectly as to make them seem huge. The anti-hero is Paul — a heavy smoker, a heavy drinker, a man who lives with a woman who reminds him of the only prostitute he's ever had sex with. Paul lives in Hove and commutes to Victoria with a sore head. He is the sort of man who nurtures his hopeless crush on the barmaid at his regular pub. As well as Paul, there is Murray, Paul's colleague and rival, a man so desperate and pathetic that even Paul can hardly bear to contemplate his situation. But these two men are locked in a mesmerising battle.

Superb.

Synopsis from Foyles.co.uk
If I could just ask you - Would you be interested in this absolutely stunning and darkly comic new novel about advertising salesmen? Because remember, advertising and sales are what make our world go round. Did you know that approximately forty-three per cent of us have sold advertising space at some time in our lives? Or that the average person sees 1004 adverts every day? Let me just ask you this - When was the last time you saw an advert? Probably in the last fifty-seven seconds. This is the story of Paul Rainey, an ad salesman with Park Lane Publications Ltd. Perceiving dimly through a fog of psychoactive substances his dissatisfaction with his life - professional, sexual, weekends, the lot - he only wishes there was something he was able to do about it. And 'something' seems to fall into his lap when a meeting with an old friend and fellow salesman, Eddy Jaw, leads to the offer of a new job. Unfortunately, this offer turns out to be as misleading as Paul's patter, and the total transformation it precipitates in his life, and the life of his family, very much more peculiar than he would ever have thought possible. Critics often lament that the world of work is rarely treated in British fiction. London and the South-East answers that need triumphantly.