Coming up for Air

Striking the balance between comical and pessimistic, this Orwellian novel follows 45-year-old George Bowling as he foresees the horrors of World War Two and attempts to escape the threat of violence and old age by retreating to his childhood town.

First published in 1939, Coming Up for Air is a novel by George Orwell examining how commercialism and capitalism are destroying the English countryside and opening the way for new threats. When an insurance salesman, George Bowling, wins money on a horserace, he decides to escape his disillusioned London life and attempt to relive his innocent childhood. He returns to his small town of birth in rural England and hides from the reality of the impending war. Featuring an introductory essay by Orwell, ‘Why I Write’, this new edition of the seminal novel is not to be missed.