Description

First published in 1939, “Coming Up for Air” is a novel by George Orwell that tells the story of 45-year-old insurance salesman George Bowling who, foreseeing the horrors of World War II, endeavours to relive his innocent childhood by returning to his birthplace in rural England. Simultaneously comical and pessimistic, “Coming Up for Air” examines how commercialism and capitalism are destroying the English countryside and opening the way for new threats. Eric Arthur Blair (1903–1950), more commonly known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English journalist, essayist, critic, and novelist most famous for his novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four” (1949) and allegorical novella “Animal Farm” (1945). His work is characterised by an opposition to totalitarianism and biting social commentary, and remains influential in popular culture today. Many of his neologisms have forever entered the English language, including “Thought Police”, “Big Brother”, “Room 101”, “doublethink”, “thoughtcrime”, and “Newspeak” to name but a few. Other notable works by this author include: “Burmese Days” (1934) and “Keep the Aspidistra Flying” (1936). Read & Co. Classics is proudly republishing this vintage novel now in a new edition complete with the introductory essay ‘Why I Write’.