The Rotters' Club

''Sometimes I feel that I am destined always to be offstage whenever the main action occurs. That God has made me the victim of some cosmic practical joke, by assigning me little more than a walk-on part in my own life . . .''

Coming of age in 1970s'' Birmingham, teenager Benjamin Trotter is about to discover the agonies and ecstasies of growing up. Whether it is first love or last rites, IRA bombs or industrial strife, prog versus punk rock, expectations of bad poetry or an unexpected life-changing experience involving lost swimming trunks, The Rotters'' Club is a heartfelt and hilarious portrait of a particular time and place featuring characters recognisable the world over . . .

''Very funny, a compulsive and gripping read'' The Times

''Hugely entertaining'' The Observer

''A book to cherish, a book to reread, a book to buy for all your friends'' Independent on Sunday