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Alan Sillitoe

Three uproarious comic novels from the iconic author of such classics as The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.

 Alan Sillitoe has been hailed as “the most quietly eloquent of his cohort of postwar British novelists” (Jonathan Lethem). Here are three of Sillitoe’s finest and funniest, chronicling the adventures of the “happy bastard” Michael Cullen.
 
A Start in Life: The saga begins as Michael Cullen says goodbye to his home in Nottingham and hits the road for London. There he will make his fortune—or die trying.
 
Life Goes On: The legend of Britain’s most unlikely hero continues. After a series of outlandish criminal adventures, Cullen is a bastard no more. But he is still a rake with a refreshing lack of scruples. With the open road in front of him, the police behind him, and randy waitresses at every lay-by, Cullen is up to his old tricks once again.
 
Moggerhanger: This madcap tale finds Cullen hired by his ex-boss, racketeer Claude Moggerhanger, to do a little “job.” But that’s just the beginning of a wild adventure featuring crazed poets; endless women; rat catchers; Labrador retrievers; and his old friend, former mercenary soldier Bill Straw.
 
Rolling Stone called Alan Sillitoe “the master of British verbal architecture.” These three novels also reveal him as a master of the picaresque, one of the truly unmistakable and original voices in modern fiction.

Open Road Media

The Michael Cullen Novels

The Michael Cullen Novels: A Start in Life, Life Goes On, and Moggerhanger

An outrageously funny novel of adventure, sex, corruption, and crime from one of the greatest British authors of the twentieth century.

 Michael Cullen is proud to be a bastard. His first memories are of the war, when his mother welcomed every soldier in Britain into her house, and young Michael hid beneath her bed to let the rocking of the springs lull him to sleep. By the time he’s eighteen, he’s got a pregnant girlfriend, and is staring down a long life of working-class respectability that simply makes him sick. So Michael says goodbye to his girlfriend and his home in Nottingham, and hits the road for London, where he will make his fortune—or die trying.
 
 From the nightclubs of Soho to the depths of London’s underworld, Michael can’t help but get into trouble. But whether he’s chauffeuring a vicious gangster or smuggling gold bullion across the channel, he never stops having a wonderful time. Indeed, Michael is something else entirely: a happy bastard with nothing to lose.
 
 A rollicking picaresque novel by the legendary author of such classics of kitchen sink realism as The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, A Start in Life is one of the funniest British novels of the twentieth century.
 
 A Start in Life is the 1st book in the Michael Cullen Novels, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

 “A Start in Life is, for my money, the best novel that Sillitoe has yet written.” —New Statesman
 
 “The kind of hilarious nonsense that keeps you riveted to deck-chair or arm-chair, depending on the season.” —The Daily Telegraph
 
Praise for Alan Sillitoe
 “The master of British verbal architecture.” —Rolling Stone

 Alan Sillitoe (1928–2010) was a British novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright, known for his honest, humorous, and acerbic accounts of working-class life. Sillitoe served four years in the Royal Air Force and lived for six years in France and Spain, before returning to England. His first novel, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, was published in 1958 and was followed by a collection of short stories, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, which won the Hawthornden Prize for Literature. With over fifty volumes to his name, Sillitoe was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1997.

A Start in Life: A Novel

A laugh-out-loud adventure novel starring bestselling author Alan Sillitoe’s most outrageous character: the happy bastard Michael Cullen.

 For most of his life, Michael Cullen was a twenty-two-carat no-good bastard, and he was quite proud of it. But after a series of outlandish criminal adventures revealed the true identity of his father, Michael made the mistake of introducing him to dear old ma. His parents wed, and Michael was a bastard no more. But he was still a rake, with a devilish sense of humor and a refreshing lack of scruples.
 
 After a disastrous escapade smuggling gold for the ruthless gangster Claude Moggerhanger, Michael resolves to go straight. But when he learns his father is writing Lord Moggerhanger’s memoirs, he falls into old habits, if only for a chance to get behind the wheel of the gangster’s Rolls Royce. With the open road in front of him, the police behind him, and randy waitresses at every lay-by, Michael will be a happy bastard once again.
 
 From the bestselling author of The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, Life Goes On continues the legend of one of Britain’s most unlikely heroes, which began in the classic picaresque A Start in Life. Whether chasing love, money, sex, or even peace and quiet, there is nothing Michael Cullen can’t make into an adventure.
 
 Life Goes On is the 2nd book in the Michael Cullen Novels, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Life Goes On: A Novel

A madcap, bawdy tale about an ordinary man who goes to work for a racketeer and has the adventure of a lifetime: the last novel by an iconic British writer.
 
 Michael Cullen, from Nottingham, has a shady past, but nearing his forties, he’s settled down, married a doctor, and started working for an ad agency. That is, until the agency fires him. He’s not terribly upset though. Actually, he feels free—he hated that job. But he knows he’s disappointed his wife and isn’t sure what to do next, so he decides to hit the road for a few weeks.
 
 Then, he’s contacted by his old boss, Claude Moggerhanger. A racketeer whom Cullen once tried—and failed—to put in jail, Moggerhanger seems to have forgiven him, and wants to hire him to do a little “job.” All he has to do is drive Moggerhanger’s Rolls Royce to Greece, get Greek food for Moggerhanger’s wife, collect a few packages, and deliver one in Belgrade. This sounds pretty suspect to Cullen, but he needs the money and has nothing else to do—plus, Moggerhanger can be very persuasive.
 
 It’s only the beginning of a wild adventure with a cast of characters featuring Cullen’s father, who’s a famous writer, and his long-suffering girlfriend; crazed poets; endless women; rat catchers; Labrador retrievers; the highly menacing Green Toe Gang; and his old friend, Bill Straw, a former mercenary soldier. This novel will make you want to quit your job and go on the road, come what may.
 
 Moggerhanger is the 3rd book in the Michael Cullen Novels, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.