1985

In a satirical and speculative counter-novel to Orwell's 1984, Anthony Burgess imagines a 1985 where trade unions have become an all-encompassing, totalitarian force and the British government has been replaced by a union-dominated state. The story follows Bev Jones, a schoolteacher and former classical scholar, as he becomes increasingly radicalized against the union system after his wife's death during a strike. He finds an unlikely alliance with a gang of "outsiders" — a boxer, a prostitute, and a former teacher — who embrace classical education and become his allies in a world where the union's power is absolute.