Lionel Asbo

State of England

By: Martin Amis

Narrated by: Alex Jennings

Lionel Asbo, a terrifying yet weirdly loyal thug (self-named after England's notorious "Anti-Social Behaviour Order"), has always looked out for his ward and nephew, the orphaned Desmond Pepperdine. He provides him with fatherly career advice (always carry a knife, for example) and is determined they should share the joys of pit bulls (fed with lots of Tabasco sauce), Internet porn, and all manner of more serious criminality. Des, on the other hand, desires nothing more than books to read and a girl to love (and to protect a family secret that could be the death of him).

But just as he begins to lead a gentler, healthier life, his uncle - once again in a London prison - wins £140 million in the lottery, and upon his release, hires a public relations firm and begins dating a cannily ambitious topless model and “poet”. Strangely, however, Lionel's true nature remains uncompromised, while his problems, and therefore also Desmond's, seem only to multiply.

©2012 Martin Amis (P)2012 AudioGO

Funny Book, The Performance Extraordinary

I enjoyed listening to this book. I had heard pieces of it from reading sessions and interviews that Martin Amis had, but had no idea the performance as an audiobook is that great! I'm very happy about this choice and will listen to this again!

amis wins again

wonderful dialogue and a fantastic narration performance which made it real to an American ear. such wonderfully constructed and bizarre characters.

Jēz...us! Just don't buy it for your Grans.

Amis can write the darkest satire with a lyrical heart that beats with warm, soft blood. 'Lionel ASBO' is sad, funny, gratuitous, sick and full of life. It is like Dickens was written by William Burroughs.

Covered in grit, the characters in this Amis novel seem at first like bizarre 21st century, Cruikshank caricatures that just keep bouncing back and forth in my head between the real, the surreal and the unreal -- so I keep on doubting my own palsied view of the world.

Anywho, this novel seems like a better-adjusted, less disquieting version of Amis' magnum opus 'Money'. Lionel ASBO has more heart, and just slightly less art. Amis traded a little of the floating world . . . for the heavy. Just please Jēz...us don't buy it for Grans.

Great Reader

Where does Lionel Asbo rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Pretty high up. Great British reader. I couldn't get into the book, but knew that the audio would be good.

Which character – as performed by Alex Jennings – was your favorite?

Lionel - I can still hear his voice in my head many months later.

If you could rename Lionel Asbo, what would you call it?

Lottery Lout. Asbo is so perfect = Anti-social behaviour order. This guy just didn't get it.

Any additional comments?

I usually listen to audio books when they have different accents.

Classic Martin Amis - for better or worse

If you liked Keith from London Fields, you'll love Lionel. More to the point, you will love the Lionel presented in the voice of the astonishing Alex Jennings. I am sure that I had simply read this book, I would gave hated it. The story is classic Martin Amis, equal parts silly and mean-spirited, but Jennings's voice put it on a different plane. What was facile became cinematic; I could almost picture Ray Winstone, thick fingers wrapped around a can of Cobra, radiating menace as he explained the facts of life to his young protege . . .