Lionel Asbo has just won GBP139,999,999.50 on the Lottery. A horribly violent, but horribly unsuccessful criminal, Lionel's attentions up to now have all been on his nephew, Desmond Pepperdine. He showers him with fatherly advice (`carry a knife') and introduces Des to the joys of internet porn. Meanwhile, Des desires nothing more than books, a girl to love and to steer clear Uncle Li's psychotic pitbulls, Joe and Jeff. But Lionel's winnings are not necessarily all good news. For Des has a secret, and its discovery could unleash his uncle's implacable vengeance. `One of Amis's funniest novels' New Yorker `A book that looks at us, laughs at us, looks at us harder, closer, and laughs at us harder and still more savagely' Observer