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Trading Futures
'With his gallows humour and observational wit, Jim Powell gives us a vivid portrait of a man in meltdown.' Daily MailWhen I was small, my mother showed me how to grow a carrot from a carrot. She filled a jam jar with water, cut the top off a carrot, ran a cocktail stick horizontally through the stub and suspended it over the jar, just touching the water. In time, roots sprouted, and when they were long enough and strong enough, the plant was translated to the garden and new carrots grew. This was one of the many exciting ways in which I was prepared for adult life.This is Matthew Oxenhay at a stranger to his wife, an embarrassment to his children, and failed former contender for the top job at his City firm. Seizing on his birthday party as an opportunity to deliver some rather crushing home truths to his assembled loved ones, it seems as though Matthew might have hit rock bottom. The truth, however, is that he has some way to go yet . . . With forensic precision and mordant wit, Matthew unpicks the threads that bind a comfortable home in the suburbs, a career spent trading futures and a life that bears little resemblance to the one he imagined for himself at twenty. When he unexpectedly bumps into Anna (the one who got away), the stage is set for an epic unravelling.Darkly funny, Trading Futures forces us to confront how change, like death, is an inevitable fact of feared by most, it can transform or overwhelm us. This is a brilliantly observed novel, for fans of works such as John Lanchester's Mr Phillips and On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan.It also featured as Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.
- GenresFiction
218 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 10, 2016
2 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Jim Powell
3 books19 followersJim Powell (born 17 May 1949 in London) is a British novelist, and is a direct descendant of the 19th-century novelist Thomas Love Peacock.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 18, 2018
I find it puzzling that some novels which I find just so-so get read so widely, whilst receiving generally high ratings and even critical acclaim. On the other hand, Jim Powell's "Trading Futures" which I thoroughly enjoyed, currently sits at 3.27* here on Goodreads and NONE of my GR friends has even read it.
What does it take for a novel to be a hit? Does it have to have likeable characters? An unending series of twists? Does it have to talk about child abuse, rape or racial discrimination? Does it have to be uplifting or conversely, so heart-wrenching that it not only tugs at one's heartstrings but totally tears them apart? If that's the case, then unfortunately, this novel has none of that. What it is, though, is a darkly humorous and thought-provoking read. I loved the writing in this book, written in the way that only British writers, it seems to me, can write.
The story is about a successful futures trader in the City who suddenly finds himself out of work. At 60, he is tired of his life and feels he has not accomplished much, even though he is financially well-off, being a former star trader and all. He feels alienated from his wife, Judy, his grownup children and his friends. By chance, he bumps into his 'could-be ex', the one he let slip forty-one years ago, and seriously contemplates leaving everything behind to 'ride off into the sunset' with her. Throughout the book, the reader is left wondering whether the protagonist is having a late mid-life crisis or simply going mad.
The following extracts succinctly demonstrate his deeply-felt crisis:
"When I was small, my mother showed me how to grow a carrot from a carrot. She filled a jam jar with water, cut the top off a carrot, ran a cocktail stick horizontally through the stub and suspended it over a jar, just touching the water. In time, roots sprouted, and when they were long enough and strong enough, the plant was transplanted to the garden and new carrots grew......."
The scene from the window was a distillation of life present, of life cumulative to date. I was in the house that several decades of meaningless endeavour had procured, looking down on the wife that several months of conventional courtship had procured, on the friends that the procured wife had deemed suitable for such a house and such a marriage, on the children that several episodes of drunken sex had procured, and on the partners that said children's market value had procured. None of it seemed to have a great deal to do with me. And nothing whatsoever to do with how I had imagined my life forty years earlier.
It was this that made me think of the carrots. Because what Judy had done, it seemed to me, was to cut me off in my prime, suspend me in water for a while, then transplant me to other soil, her soil, to produce a different carrot. I felt a pang of nostalgia for the original carrot that had been sacrificed to this endeavour. Thinking of that metaphor now, it seems to have lost the epic quality of a Biblical vision that it had when it occurred to me, but still to represent a truth. All I would change is to extend the accusation levelled at Judy, and include myself on the charge sheet for letting it happen. I would also indict Life, which has less capacity to wiggle out of that charge, or any other. Life is the ideal defendant when one is looking for a conviction."
What does it take for a novel to be a hit? Does it have to have likeable characters? An unending series of twists? Does it have to talk about child abuse, rape or racial discrimination? Does it have to be uplifting or conversely, so heart-wrenching that it not only tugs at one's heartstrings but totally tears them apart? If that's the case, then unfortunately, this novel has none of that. What it is, though, is a darkly humorous and thought-provoking read. I loved the writing in this book, written in the way that only British writers, it seems to me, can write.
The story is about a successful futures trader in the City who suddenly finds himself out of work. At 60, he is tired of his life and feels he has not accomplished much, even though he is financially well-off, being a former star trader and all. He feels alienated from his wife, Judy, his grownup children and his friends. By chance, he bumps into his 'could-be ex', the one he let slip forty-one years ago, and seriously contemplates leaving everything behind to 'ride off into the sunset' with her. Throughout the book, the reader is left wondering whether the protagonist is having a late mid-life crisis or simply going mad.
The following extracts succinctly demonstrate his deeply-felt crisis:
"When I was small, my mother showed me how to grow a carrot from a carrot. She filled a jam jar with water, cut the top off a carrot, ran a cocktail stick horizontally through the stub and suspended it over a jar, just touching the water. In time, roots sprouted, and when they were long enough and strong enough, the plant was transplanted to the garden and new carrots grew......."
The scene from the window was a distillation of life present, of life cumulative to date. I was in the house that several decades of meaningless endeavour had procured, looking down on the wife that several months of conventional courtship had procured, on the friends that the procured wife had deemed suitable for such a house and such a marriage, on the children that several episodes of drunken sex had procured, and on the partners that said children's market value had procured. None of it seemed to have a great deal to do with me. And nothing whatsoever to do with how I had imagined my life forty years earlier.
It was this that made me think of the carrots. Because what Judy had done, it seemed to me, was to cut me off in my prime, suspend me in water for a while, then transplant me to other soil, her soil, to produce a different carrot. I felt a pang of nostalgia for the original carrot that had been sacrificed to this endeavour. Thinking of that metaphor now, it seems to have lost the epic quality of a Biblical vision that it had when it occurred to me, but still to represent a truth. All I would change is to extend the accusation levelled at Judy, and include myself on the charge sheet for letting it happen. I would also indict Life, which has less capacity to wiggle out of that charge, or any other. Life is the ideal defendant when one is looking for a conviction."
September 7, 2016
I have a rule that if I can't wait for the next page, then I give the book a 5 star rating. Trading Futures is quite thought-provoking. I am approaching fifty, so despite being slightly younger than our main character, it did make me ponder about how life can turn on a dime. What if work went down the tubes? What if my financial security was compromised? In his case, he was made redundant. How would you react? How would you deal with it? Some take it in their stride and get on with finding other work, others go to pieces. For Matthew, it took him on a journey,(metaphorically and literally), or at least, he tried to discover who he really was, what he really wanted, but essentially, he was just a mess. It was clear, that he had lived a lie his whole life. Yes he was a Futures Trader and a successful one to boot, but he was miserable and unfulfilled. He would have probably found nirvana just smoking spliffs and listening to Simon and Garfunkel. He was really a hippy at heart. It is interesting as to how life takes a certain direction and you think you are pursuing your dreams, but in actuality you aren’t. He has had tragedy in his life, with the implied suicide of his brother, which obviously scarred him. He drank to numb the pain and that became a habit. He was convinced that Anna was this old flame of his and it was a clever twist when we learn that she wasn't. It becomes very clear that Matthew is bitterly disappointed with where he has ended up in life. I felt sorry for Judy and I am sure there are many devoted wives like her, but she seemed pretty much in the dark about Matthew's inner demons. A couple can live together for a lifetime, but not even know each other. Anna was an interesting character, She lives in the middle of nowhere and lives a life of solitude, more or less. Two downsides. Even with the play on words, Trading Futures is abit of a naff title and the ending was far too abrupt. It felt as though the author was in a rush to finish the book and just get it to press. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it.
March 13, 2016
I didn’t realise, when I first picked up this novel, that it is by the same author as The Breaking of Eggs, a book that bored and irritated me to an immense degree. I probably wouldn’t have embarked on this if I had realised, but I’m glad I read it. This, to my mind, is a far better read than The Breaking of Eggs, though still not really my thing. It suffers from the same problems as the previous novel. The protagonist and first-person narrator of his tale, is so disagreeable, so arrogant and self-centred and so unbelievable: I simply didn’t buy him as a flesh-and-blood human male. His narration is just too clever; how many people talk to themselves in quite this manner? Matthew Oxenhay’s inner-dialogue is so exactly like the pompous wittering of a middle class dinner party, full of self-important pretentious types all desperate to outdo each other, do each other down, show how desperately clever and important they are. I stopped going to London dinners because they were always packed with people like Matthew and I cannot help but wonder if these stuffed-shirts really expound to themselves in this way, and is it as tedious for them as it is for the rest of us?
It is terribly slow to get going. It gets better when Anna enters the tale but ultimately goes nowhere interesting, and Anna’s tale is rather predictable; I guessed the truth about her ‘relationship’ with Matthew almost from the start. It was a better read than Jim Powell's last – but only just. It’s probably my problem rather than the author’s. The Breaking of Eggs got great reviews and appeared to be loved by everyone (to my confusion) when it came out. Doubtless Trading Futures will, likewise, be loved by many, if not by me.
It is terribly slow to get going. It gets better when Anna enters the tale but ultimately goes nowhere interesting, and Anna’s tale is rather predictable; I guessed the truth about her ‘relationship’ with Matthew almost from the start. It was a better read than Jim Powell's last – but only just. It’s probably my problem rather than the author’s. The Breaking of Eggs got great reviews and appeared to be loved by everyone (to my confusion) when it came out. Doubtless Trading Futures will, likewise, be loved by many, if not by me.
March 15, 2021
It's a long time since I have read a book which started so strongly and which became weaker and weaker and more boring as it progressed. At the start this is a wickedly funny book, written from the perspective of a washed-up former senior City chap who is now drinking too much, being rude to his wife and colleagues and despised or pitied by most people, including his two children. There are many funny moments and some terrific lines.
But then ... well, if other people's dream are always boring (and they are) that another person's nervous breakdown is ten times worse. The narrator's behaviour becomes more and more erratic - but not in an amusing way - and his thoughts more and more jumbled until the reader can barely tell what is actually happening. And it is simply tedious to read page after page about this sad man driving around, taking tablets, drinking whiskey, driving some more, stopping for cigarettes, taking another tablet ... oh, god yawn-a-roony about a self absorbed looney.
Two stars because it started well and made me laugh quite a lot. If only Powell had been able to sustain it.
But then ... well, if other people's dream are always boring (and they are) that another person's nervous breakdown is ten times worse. The narrator's behaviour becomes more and more erratic - but not in an amusing way - and his thoughts more and more jumbled until the reader can barely tell what is actually happening. And it is simply tedious to read page after page about this sad man driving around, taking tablets, drinking whiskey, driving some more, stopping for cigarettes, taking another tablet ... oh, god yawn-a-roony about a self absorbed looney.
Two stars because it started well and made me laugh quite a lot. If only Powell had been able to sustain it.
June 2, 2021
On one hand this book works well with good dialogue, some amusing incidents and an original story. From a philosophical point of view it is an interesting attempt to understand self-deception from the perspective of a nervous breakdown bought on by a belief that a professional life was meaningless and a compromise. This was triggered by an end of career dismissal leading to self pity, anger, alcoholism and an imaginary re-awakening of a unrequited teenage affair. Where it fell short though was in the description of the professional life of futures trading which just did not ring true. The fact the main character came across as an unpleasant manipulative fool also made it difficult to feel sympathy for him and to enjoy the novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2020
This is a small book that is deceptively deep - poignant and funny. The main character, Matthew Oxenhay, and his confusion about the meaning of (his) life is evocatively drawn and one is quite sympathetic to him. The unresolved ending is fitting rather than frustrating. Lovely stuff.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 20, 2018
A quirky wee book. The last couple of chapters were not what I expected, quite dark. 3.75 stars.
October 27, 2022
Excellent book. Rarity
June 7, 2018
Review copy courtesy of nudge.com
Here we have the story of a man in mid-life crisis, trying to evaluate what he has achieved over the years. Matthew has been working as a City trader, a professional gambler of corporate money, and it has bought him a very comfortable life. Now he is middle-aged and no longer values that safe, secure, suburban existence. Why hasn’t he achieved those things that in his twenties he thought he would? When the girl he lost forty years ago reappears and is available to him once again, Matthew is tempted to try to make amends for what now seems to him to have been the bad decision that sent his life off on the wrong path all those years ago.
Not such an unusual story. What makes this one stand apart is the wit of its author and the calibre of his writing. A slim volume at just over 150 pages, I thought I would zip through it in no time, but hadn’t calculated for the density of the writing. Some absorbing ideas and an absolute joy to read from start to finish.
Some memorable images - the conveyor belt features more than once - and I was particularly taken with the one of the sausage-making machine on the penultimate page. If we don’t leap off the conveyor belt of conformity, we will be delivered to the mincer and turned into a mass-produced sausage. The teenaged Matthew can’t quite bring himself to jump and comes up with a compromise - sure, he will be a sausage, but a superior, hand-made one. Now he wonders how he could have thought that would make any difference to his life.
Matthew is an impressive creation. He knows he is behaving badly and why. He and we are amused at his wry self-justification. Not a man to make a decision and act upon it, he prefers at least the semblance of gambling. Heads this woman, tails that woman - oops, let’s make it best of three, or maybe best of five, or better still best of any number until it produces the secretly desired result. Behaviour all too familiar to me and I found that in laughing at Matthew I was equally laughing at myself.
Highly recommended to readers of a certain age.
Here we have the story of a man in mid-life crisis, trying to evaluate what he has achieved over the years. Matthew has been working as a City trader, a professional gambler of corporate money, and it has bought him a very comfortable life. Now he is middle-aged and no longer values that safe, secure, suburban existence. Why hasn’t he achieved those things that in his twenties he thought he would? When the girl he lost forty years ago reappears and is available to him once again, Matthew is tempted to try to make amends for what now seems to him to have been the bad decision that sent his life off on the wrong path all those years ago.
Not such an unusual story. What makes this one stand apart is the wit of its author and the calibre of his writing. A slim volume at just over 150 pages, I thought I would zip through it in no time, but hadn’t calculated for the density of the writing. Some absorbing ideas and an absolute joy to read from start to finish.
Some memorable images - the conveyor belt features more than once - and I was particularly taken with the one of the sausage-making machine on the penultimate page. If we don’t leap off the conveyor belt of conformity, we will be delivered to the mincer and turned into a mass-produced sausage. The teenaged Matthew can’t quite bring himself to jump and comes up with a compromise - sure, he will be a sausage, but a superior, hand-made one. Now he wonders how he could have thought that would make any difference to his life.
Matthew is an impressive creation. He knows he is behaving badly and why. He and we are amused at his wry self-justification. Not a man to make a decision and act upon it, he prefers at least the semblance of gambling. Heads this woman, tails that woman - oops, let’s make it best of three, or maybe best of five, or better still best of any number until it produces the secretly desired result. Behaviour all too familiar to me and I found that in laughing at Matthew I was equally laughing at myself.
Highly recommended to readers of a certain age.
April 28, 2016
I have to admit I'm surprised by the average/negative reviews on here. I just read this as part of a work assignment and found it compelling, witty and ultimately tragic. I don't get the criticism of Matthew's character being pretentious- he's clearly very intelligent, painfully self-aware in some ways and others, seriously lacking in introspection. But he often takes the p*ss of himself and his 'pretentiousness', mocking others who take that aspect of themselves seriously. I also didn't guess 'the twist' at all, I thought it was very clever and ultimately, thought-provoking. But each to their own!
April 23, 2016
Lucid assessments of the meaning of our urban, middle-class, middle-age existences are always exercises in despair and frustation, even if self-deprecating humour is invoked. Better to not be lucid, if at all possible (unfortunately, you may be sure that eventually reality will come calling, normally at the worst possible time).
N.B.: This review is based on Jill Waters abridgment of the original text for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.
N.B.: This review is based on Jill Waters abridgment of the original text for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.
lookedinto-decidedagainst
March 14, 2016
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0736wr3
I'm depressed even before this kicks in, best mark it as best not...
March 26, 2016
A dark little book about a man in the throes of a breakdown. I guess this is what happens when you reach the end of your working life, look back, and realise that you've betrayed everything you planned and wanted.
A slim, but dense novel, it does leave you despairing at the end.
A slim, but dense novel, it does leave you despairing at the end.
January 25, 2016
Not my cup of tea
March 20, 2016
Maybe sympathetic as personal parallels.
June 19, 2016
Given the state of mind of the main protagonist, I feel a bit bad saying that I really enjoyed this story, but I did. Nice job Jim.
March 23, 2017
A 60 year old 'Lucky Jim' for the twenty first century. I started reading this book finding it quite amusing, but by the end of the book I found it rather depressing.
April 4, 2017
Mathew Oxenhay turns 60, loses his job and begins to fall apart. The first half of this novel is full of witty remarks and cleverisms; the second descends into a morbid and not very convincing search for the meaning of life. Ultimately, it was a male middle age crisis, just a bit later than most men have them. Disappointing.
April 10, 2017
Quite thought provoking.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews