Millennium People

Millenium People is a novel by J. G. Ballard published in 2003.

Related Topics:
J. G. Ballard - 2003

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This is a story of rebellion in the middle classes in a cozy enclave of Greater London.

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When a bomb explodes on a baggage carousel at Heathrow Airport, killing his ex-wife, David Markham tries to unravel the mystery surrounding her seemingly pointless death. But with unresolved questions about himself, his job, and his loving but adulterous wife, he soon finds himself immersed in the deeper waters of middle class revolution. Fed up with double yellow traffic lines, parking fees, rising rents and the cost of private schools for their children, the residents of Chelsea Marina begin a violent insurrection.

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When a protest at a cat show turns ugly and he is beaten up by angry cat lovers, then arrested and tried, Markham enlists in the cause of the rebellious Chelseans - imagining he will uncover the persons and causes responsible for his ex's murder. Slowly, he succumbs to the call of subversion and gradually finds himself a terrorist functionary. Along the way we meet an assortment of wonderfully ballardian characters: Markham's wife, who continues to use her arm canes though her leg injuries from an accident with a tram have completely healed. A sociopathic, college film studies lecturer/terrorist cell leader who takes Markham for a lover; a troubled priest and his chinese girlfriend; a former MI5 bombmaker turned revolutionary. And a kindly pediatrican cum terrorist mastermind. Ultimately, Markham learns the reasons behind his former wife's murder have a very different logic than he'd imagined.

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Millenium People shows Ballard's wit to good effect:

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• Along with their tumultuous cat show protest, the Chelsea Marina revolutionaries worry about property values.
• After a violent street brawl with the London Police, the rebels tidy up their lawns, sweep up broken glass, and return burned out Volvos to their usual parking spaces in front of their burned out homes.
• Middle class residents giving up their jobs, shoplifting and burning their houses before they are re-possessed

The novel poses interesting questions about what people want and don't want from life and how they are portrayed.

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