Atomised by Michel Houellebecq

ATOMISED by MICHEL HOULLEBECQ

Half-brothers Michel and Bruno have a mother in common but little else.
Michel is a molecular biologist, a thinker and idealist, a man with no erotic life to speak of and little in the way of human society.
Bruno, by contrast, is a libertine, though more in theory than in practice, his endless lust is all too rarely reciprocated.
Both are symptomatic members of our atomised society, where religion has given way to shallow 'new age' philosophies and love to meaningless sexual connections.
Atomised tells the stories of the two brothers, but the real subject of the novel is the dismantling of contemporary society and its assumptions, its political incorrectness, and its caustic and penetrating asides on everything from anthropology to the problem pages of girls' magazines. A dissection of modern lives and loves. By turns funny, acid, infuriating, didactic, touching and visceral.

Very moving, gloriously, extravagantly filthy and very funny, Independent

Compelling...wrenchingly terrible... Unhealthy and haunting, rich and provocative, Atomised astonishes both as a novel of ideas and as a portrait of a society, Independent

A brave and rather magnificent book, Daily Telegraph

Sheer brilliance...totally mesmerising, energising, infuriating and moving... Compulsory reading, Time Out

A novel which hunts big game while others settle for shooting rabbits -- Julian Barnes, Times Literary Supplement

Destined to become a cult book...a genuine page-turner, Observer

Bullying and brilliant... Atomised is nothing less than a road-rage map of our times, Evening Standard

An extraordinary voice, Observer

Makes you re-examine your beliefs... This is a brave and rather magnificent book, Daily Telegraph