It is the very near future. Paul Ali, a young science fiction writer, who has the perceived misfortune of a Muslim heritage, has been arrested for no compelling reason. He is held as prisoner B, without a lawyer and isolated. Whenever the powers-that-be fancy a diversion, they beat him up. A foul-mouthed jobsworth subjects him to coarse and unremitting questioning. To escape from this humiliation prisoner B writes - in the privacy of his mind - a science fiction novel set on a planet in every sense a thousand light years away. But gradually the two worlds start to converge...In the tradition of dystopias like "1984", this novel shocks and entertains.

Author Biography

Brian Aldiss has written more than 75 books including "Non-Stop" (Gollancz), "Hothouse" (a Hugo Award winner), "The Saliva Tree" (winner of the Nebula Award) and the "Heliconia" series, which won the British Science Fiction Association Award. He was made an OBE in 2005. He lives in Oxford.