J.G. Ballard

Despite increasing recognition of his unique talents as a novelist and short story writer, J. G. Ballard (1930-2009) remains one of the most controversial presences in contemporary British fiction. His obsessions with various forms of violence, alienation, and sexual perversion have puzzled many readers, critics and publishers. Still, Ballard's imaginative powers and the originality of his work have also won him the admiration of a broad and international readership. Examining the whole range of Ballard's writings from the early science fiction stories to Cocaine Nights (1996), Delville's study offers a critical and theoretically informed analysis of his achievements as a novelist and as a commentator on contemporary culture.