Enderby

"The first sequel to Anthony Burgess’ Inside Mr. Enderby, Enderby Outside (1968) continues the story of would-be poet Enderby after his failed marriage and mental breakdown. When the book opens, he is working under an assumed name (Hogg) as a bartender in a chi-chi London hotel, where one evening a popular pop band holds a party. It turns out that the pop band, Crewsy Fixers, is backed by the former Mrs. Enderby, who has, moreover, stolen some of Enderby’s poems and had them published under the lead singer’s name.

That in itself would make a pretty good story, but it gets better when the lead singer, Crewsy, is shot by a Pete Best-ish former band member, who sticks the gun in Enderby’s hands before running out. That sets Enderby on the lam, to Morocco of all places, to stay out of jail until he can clear himself. In Tangier, he meets up with a fellow poet who runs a bar and is dying.

I won’t give away any more except to say the story was passably enjoyable. I did think the portrayal of the pop band was slightly anachronistic, smacking more of 1965-66 than 1968, when the book came out, but that’s a quibble.

Enderby Outside is not great Burgess but still an enjoyable, and fairly short, read."