Identity Crisis

by Ben Elton

Why are we all so hostile? So quick to take offence? Truly we are living in the age of outrage. A series of apparently random murders draws amiable, old-school Detective Mick Matlock into a world of sex, politics, reality TV and a bewildering kaleidoscope of opposing identity groups. Lost in a blizzard of hashtags, his already complex investigation is further impeded by the fact that he simply doesn't `get' a single thing about anything anymore. Meanwhile, each day another public figure confesses to having `misspoken' and prostrates themselves before the judgement of Twitter. Begging for forgiveness, assuring the public "that is not who I am". But if nobody is who they are anymore - then who the f##k are we? Ben Elton returns with a blistering satire of the world as it fractures around us. Get ready for a roller-coaster thriller, where nothing - and no one - is off limits.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Crime, Book Club, Comedy, Audiobook, Satire

384 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2015

About the author

Ben Elton was born on 3 May 1959, in Catford, South London. The youngest of four, he went to Godalming Grammar School, joined amateur dramatic societies and wrote his first play at 15. He wanted to be a stagehand at the local theatre, but instead did A-Level Theatre Studies and studied drama at Manchester University in 1977.

His career as both performer and writer encompasses some of the most memorable and incisive comedy of the past twenty years. His groundbreaking work as a TV stand-up comedian set the (high) standard of what was to follow. He has received accolades for his hit TV sitcoms, The Young Ones, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line.

More recently he has had successes with three hit West End musicals, including the global phenomenon We Will Rock You. He has written three plays for the London stage, including the multi-award-winning Popcorn. Ben's international bestselling novels include Stark, Inconceivable, Dead Famous and High Society. He won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for the novel Popcorn.

Elton lives in Perth with his Aussie wife Sophie and three children.

Reviews

[Nat K · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I have a very full life online."

Welcome back Ben Elton, it's been too long!

Ben's latest offering opens with D.I Mick Matlock speaking at a police media appearance to discuss a recently discovered body in a park. He unknowingly jumps right in with his size elevens by using the phrase "wrong place, wrong time". It was said unwittingly, and no offense was meant. But plenty was taken. The police media liaison department are quick to make him issue an apology, and so the Pandora's Box titled "Political Correctness" is open for business.

You get the picture. This sets the tone for the book. It only gets crazier and more ridiculous from here. But the scary thing is, what Ben Elton describes is so eerily true of the "modern world". Society seems to be divided into very specific boxes based on beliefs/politics/gender/sexuality, and Ben has a great time flogging each of these sacred cows.

Satire, wit and keen observations combine to give us an eerie view of the current climate, with keyboard warriors frightening politicians, public services & corporations with their own form of written vitriol. Hashtags going viral, as people increasingly display their outrage online.

"...outrage and counter-outrage. Everyone was looking for martyrs. Everyone was looking for scapegoats. No one seemed to be in any mood to compromise."

Ben Elton sure has his finger on the pulse You'll laugh, you'll groan, you'll roll your eyes at the people and situations described here. I think we've all either been or know at least one of the types described here.

I don't think there are too many groups who Ben has missed out on insulting/praising here, depending on which particular fence you're sitting on today. And being humans, we tend to be a bit fickle, and are keen to jump to greener pastures as needed.

This is brash, sharp writing. Swear words abound, so look away if you're easily offended. The short snappy chapters keep the story flowing well, and the chapters are titled - love it! More books should have them.

Highly recommended! Nothing like a bit of satire to shake the cobwebs off.

*** Big shout out to the wonderful, talented Mr.Neale-ski who I buddy read this with. I had a blast! Make sure you read Neale's review too at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ***

#readthisbookandbeoutraged

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you say something controversial on social media, YOU DIE! At least that’s what literally happens to the beleaguered characters in Ben Elton’s latest novel, Identity Crisis.

I’d hoped this book was going to be a wry, amusing look at the current state of Western society - specifically: vapid celebrity worship, outrage culture and social media witch-hunts, empty and divisive identity politics, and out-of-control political correctness - but unfortunately it’s not. Elton touches on all of those subjects but not in any way I’d say was fun, unique or insightful.

Instead it comes off less satirical and more simply reflective of everyday life (which I suppose is a commentary in itself of just how absurd things have gotten at this point!). Elton hasn’t got anything to say about it all except “Bit bonkers, innit?”, which, duh. It’s just not funny.

The endless conversations on political correctness (in particular pronouns) become repetitive and tedious fast and it reads exactly like how it is: a 60 year old writing for other 60 year olds about da yoof of today.

I was mildly interested in the Cambridge Analytica-esque company’s storyline and where it was going (nowhere surprising it turns out) and I did want to find out who the social media killer was. But the reveal of the killer’s identity was such a cop-out - an unsatisfying rushed ending to a half-baked plot.

It’s well-written on a technical level and the various voices are convincing but the characters are all dull and largely unmemorable. What little story there is gets stretched much too much, and the myriad strands tossed in to underline the “today’s society is maaaaad” theme feel like stories Elton plucked from whatever was on the front page of the Daily Fail that day.

Ben Elton’s Identity Crisis is a dreary, unentertaining and uninspired “satire” - confirmation bias in book form for the olds that modern stuff is rubbish.

[Neale · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Senior Detective Michael Matlock says that a woman was in the wrong place at the wrong time when she was killed, he doesn’t realise the social blunder that he has committed and the ramifications that will result. Few authors do satire as well as Ben Elton and this seems to be his vent on everything that is absurd and simply wrong in our modern social media, PC correct world. Elton has his finger firmly on the zeitgeist of the times as he has his dig at Harvey Weinstein, interfering in political elections from foreign powers, political correctness, ultra-feminism, social media, immigration, fake news, Brexit.
Almost instantaneously after the press conference his social faux pas is trending number one on twitter. Suddenly he gets a call from the Mayor demanding that he make either an apology or resign.
At its heart, the novel is a murder mystery and people are turning up dead with a blow to the back of the head with a blunt object, probably a hammer, seeming to be the only thing they have in common. However, that is all the evidence the police have. After each murder, twitter seems to go into meltdown, with hashtags flying think and fast. But who is starting these hashtags and where do they originate from?
As the novel progresses, the bodies pile up and the narrative builds to a climactic ending.
Elton does a wonderful, hilarious job, of describing Matlock trying to conduct multiple murder investigations as he tiptoes his way through the minefield of a politically correct world gone mad. If you are an Elton fan than you are in for a treat as his razor-sharp wit has lost none of its edge. 4 Stars!

[Brooke - Brooke's Reading Life · Rating 4 out of 5]

*www.onewomansbbr.wordpress.com
*www.facebook.com/onewomansbbr

Identity Crisis by Ben Elton. (2019).

Why are we all so hostile and so quick to take offence? Truly we are living in the age of outrage. A series of apparently random murders draws old-school detective Mick into a world pig sex, politics, reality TV and a kaleidoscope of opposing identity groups. Lost in a blizzard of hashtags, his already complex investigation is further impeded by the fact that he simply doesn't 'get a single thing about anything any more. Meanwhile each day another public figure confesses to having 'misspoken' and begs for forgiveness on Twitter, assuring the public 'That is not who I am'...

I'm going to say upfront that while I really enjoyed this book, I'm not sure the humour would be for everyone. Previous satire novels from this author are right up there in my top favourite books ever (Blind Faith and Chart Throb if you are looking for recommendations haha) and this new one has a similar feel to them. However, it is definitely controversial and no doubt would be offensive to some readers in relation to both its themes (identity, pronouns and online rage) as well as profanity (the 'c word' is used a few times, consider yourself warned). Again, like his previous satire novels, the storyline is both ridiculous and yet also scarily believable. The characters are not necessarily likeable, but are highly entertaining.
Overall: I really enjoyed it, but I think if you've never read Ben Elton you'd be better off reading one of his older satire novels to get a taste before trying this one.

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Congratulations this another brilliant Ben Elton book .Its has 10 murders ,it is side splitting funny. Set just before the 2017 referendum this about political correctness gone insane.
This about transgender sexual zir the new word. This a world gone mad. This a Murder book with fucking twist so twisted you go bananas to get it.
Don't be in wrong place at wrong time This book was my Top Book of 2019

[Emma Gerts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whoooo boy. Okay. I have some feelings about this book. So many mixed feelings. I've been thinking about it since I finished it last night and I still can't quite decide how I feel about it so bear with me if this review is a mess.

I would like to preface this review by saying that generally speaking I like Ben Elton and I understand that this book is satire. The problem is, I just can't work out quite what it's trying to satirise, and therefore if I think the satirisation of that issue is something I can or cannot get behind.

Firstly, as I understand it, the premise of Identity Crisis is that in a post-Trump, post-Brexit world, the dialogue of identity politics has gotten out of control, leading to an impossible to navigate morass of identities and politically correct language preventing normal people from getting the job done. At least, that's how it starts, and I was perfectly ready to toss the book aside because the implication seemed to be that it was okay to victim-blame as long as your heart was in the right place or something like that. I dunno the message is confusing. The other thing about this concept is that if Ben Elton thinks that the world he's presenting in this book is somehow very wild and improbably extended beyond what's possible - he doesn't spend enough time on the internet. Because this book is basically, what if Tumblr was real life. These sort of identity wars, the language policing, the no shades of grey type attitude already exists, on Tumblr, on Twitter, in a multitude of online spaces. Not to mention that the targeting of certain types of posts and material towards the people most likely to be radicalised by it on social media is a well-known phenomenon. Reading this book felt overwhelmingly like scrolling through my tumblr feed. This world already exists.

On to where the real confusion lies. There are a range of characters in this book, and some of them are clearly caricatures that are designed to be ridiculed and are clearly "taken too far" - such as the historian trying to prosecute sex offenders from history and the incel twitter troll who claims his "identity" is Wotan Orc Slayer and that's how he wants to be referred too. I can even include the rabid TERF third wave feminazi who hates trans women into the group of characters that are obviously drawn to be problematic. The problem for me is that there is no line drawn between these examples of identity politics gone wild and what I would consider examples of genuinely important social movements - #MeToo for example, or the mother of a black woman murdered by gang violence claiming the police care more about white victims than black, or being respectful of the chosen pronouns of trans or genderqueer people. It forces me to consider the possibility that Elton is mocking these movements in the same way he's mocking the deseperate attempts of politicians to clumsily grab onto trending hashtags to further their political message. It all seems to be lumped in together as "PC bullshit" and "identity politics taken too far" and I just . . can't agree with that? I think the #MeToo movement is hugely important, same with #BlackLivesMatter. I think it's really important that people's pronoun choices are respected and that people have the opportunity to claim their gender and sexual identity and have that choice respected regardless of whether you can imagine being asexual or nonbinary.

All of this is a bit of a shame, because when I was able to push aside my instictive squicky response to a white man writing satire about sexual assault and gender politics, I really enjoyed this book. Less as satire and more as a murder mystery. I really liked a lot of the characters - DC Sally Clegg was probably the most relatable of all the characters, but I even grudgingly found myself liking the gruff, old-fashioned Detective Matlock, trying to keep his head around a world he didn't grow up in, but doing his best. I even liked Malika; recognising her as an interesting and well rounded character even if she wasn't someone I would ever want to spend time with. Julian was a satisfyingly skin-crawling villain. Given this, the omniscient, distant third person perspective prevented me from getting as close to the characters and engaging in their internal worlds as much as I would have liked.

So, did I like it? I have no idea. Largely it depends on the author's intentions, which, despite having read all 400 odd pages of this book, I still can't really pin down. There were times when I felt as if he was mocking the whole idea of social justice, others where it seemed he was mocking those who couldn't keep up, or reactionaries who fly into an outrage at the slightest provocation. It's a complicated, nuanced area, social justice. I would be the first to admit that there are people and spaces online where it's impossible to walk without offending *someone* and that there is definitely a culture of outrage in some online spaces as well. There are people who want to get offended about everything and anything, people who leave no room for honest mistakes or who see evil in everyone - spaces where simply existing as a cis, straight white person is enough to have you villified even if you try your hardest to be respectful. However to suggest that all identity and gender politics are that way, or that we shouldn't bother to respect people's choices, or that there isn't a problematic trend of the patriachy talking over women and of white people talking over people of colour would be disingenuous. To act as if #metoo is the problem when it was simply the first chance women had to speak out against a toxic culture of male privilege is not something I can get behind.

Needless to say, this book gave me a lot to think about, however you look at it.

[Nell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate myself for finishing this terrible book. Just really, really bad. Old man yells at cloud about “””identity politics””” for 376 stupid pages.

[Carol Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Identity Crisis provoked intense discussion and not a little hilarity at my bookclub. Conceived as a murder mystery/thriller, Elton's latest novel also lampoons the new tribalism, identity politics, left-wing self righteousness and right-wing prejudices, while terrifying the reader with the potential for social media to manipulate our lives and our very thoughts. In the wrong hands (Russian bots, out-of-control algorithms anyone?) Elton seems to suggest with his trademark satirical wit, hashtags could tear the fabric of our society apart.

The novel left me very scared but also very entertained. Some people will hate it, but that is probably the point. There's a lot of hate out there and not enough civilised discussion. A very witty, and timely book.

[repton · Rating 4 out of 5]

If we weren’t in the current post-truth #fakenews Trump-Brexit clusterfuck, I’d have laughed this off as fanciful. Of course, this is a very funny work of fiction, but there are some very disturbing truths which we will probably never be able to prove. Such is the society we live in today. Glad I left social media years ago; Goodreads isn’t SocMed, is it??

[Marco · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to take this opportunity to tell everyone that I respect all women, including those with vaginas.

Easy now. It's just satire. With a murder mystery to keep it rolling. Granted, Ben goes a little overboard with this one, but he had me laughing my ass off again plenty of times. There's some bewildering logic in this book. Frightening even. It's all a bit too much, though.

[Павел Смолоногин · Rating 4 out of 5]

Это очень смешная, злая, а под конец и вовсе страшная книга. Остроумная клюква, яркие вбросы, от которых бомбит всех напропалую, немного мрачного триллера и с отличным переводом. Кто-то говорит, что это лишь «деда кричит на облако», но слава блин богам, нашёлся такой дедушка, которому хватает сил кричать 450 страниц. И делает он это так, что любо-дорого.

Бен Элтон здесь глашатай современного поколения, которое ходит по минному полю. Любая шутка или неправильное местоимение могу вызвать говноворот, от которого потом устанешь оттираться. Мне повезло, я хихикал вместе с Элтоном, а люди слабее вон аккаунты удаляют, извинения пишут. Книга для всех, кто устал от эпохи обижулек и надуманных страдашек, кто устал вдалбливать в головы (предметом, напоминающим молоток) снежинок, что смеются не над ними, а вместе с ними.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is hilarious, sad in parts, and terrifying as it is so easy to see the truth in the humour.
For a person of my age (61) who is struggling to understand the PC terms and the ever more baffling sets of initials e.g. TERF, cis etc, I did identify with Mick Matlock, always scared to use the wrong expression and be vilified and possibly out of work, just by using the wrong word!
The other terror is that of social media and reality TV. Ben has, again, made me think long and hard.
I will be even more careful of where I click, and what I share. Sharing this though!

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Usually love Ben Elton’s stuff as usually satirical and hilarious this was just not very good. Plot was daft and seemed to want to say a lot but said nothing. it was just 370 pages of opinion on today’s society rather than a book. So disappointed

[Win · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has its finger on the pulse of ‘the now’. Its hilarious & fabulous because it’s sprinkled with the reality of this period in time.

[Maine Colonial · Rating 3 out of 5]

This satire of identity politics and media manipulation must be effective because readers on both the left and right think it’s unfair to them. It’s definitely over the top, but not as much as we would all hope these days.

If it had been nothing but satire, I would have gotten tired of the nastiness of different interest groups being manipulated to bash each other. But there is also a murder mystery that drives the plot and that’s quite well done.

You don’t have to be a Brit to find this a good read, but it helps because there are some side characters (with satirical names) who are stand-ins for political figures well-known in the UK.

Ben Elton is the reader of his own story and is a lot better than writer/narrators often are. He throws himself into the dialog bits and does a good job differentiating the characters.

[Adrian Deans · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5* There were flashes of genius in this book and some great ideas underpinning it all, but the execution let it down badly. It pretty much turned into an essay with ciphers for characters and I just wanted it to end. Ironically, just as he finally had something gripping happening to the characters, the whole thing ended, so what's the moral to this story?

A story needs to be told through the things that happen to the characters...not through the author shouting from a pulpit while holding up sock puppets.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up. Just too damn political and therefore too damn depressing. Needed to move further away from the truth.

Sorry mr Elton, love your stuff but this was missing the funnies.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elton's Rifle!

I've always liked Ben Elton without ever being his biggest fan but in this book, he genuinely spoke to me. This is relentlessly bubbly, irreverent (of course) and often very funny. No target is safe in this very-near-future world of Elton's and he fires shots seemingly indiscriminately. While most politicians have made up names it's obvious who is being sent up, for example, Bunter Jollye and Plantagenet Greased-Hogg - can't imagine who they are modelled on . . .

Elton's story which is very well read by himself follows these politicians, various activists, the production team of Love Island and a number of people who find themselves caught up in the social media trends of the day. It cleverly jumps on very current issues; social media, fake news and the sheer fickleness of modern society. It explores and magnifies every facet of political correctness twisting it into unrelenting satire. Running through it all though is the outrage so often generated on social media, the impact it can have on people and very on trend how public opinion is manipulated insidiously for all manner of reasons.

At the centre of all this, is Detective Mick Matlock, a genuinely well-intentioned old-school policeman who is simply baffled by the ways and speed that the world is changing around him. He struggles to navigate his way through the booby-trapped jungle of modern language. The world has changed around him and he simply hasn't kept up with it which plunges him like a tragic hero from one awkward situation to another.

This is, of course, treacherous ground that Elton is treading but I think he strikes just the right notes and the book genuinely asks some fairly sobering questions about the direction our online, social media-driven society is taking. It may upset some, I'd be surprised if it didn't, but I'm more than happy to say I very much enjoyed it from start to finish!

<>

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
I’ve never given such a low rating to a Ben Elton book but I would’ve given up on it if it wasn’t written by him. I was hoping it was going somewhere, but unfortunately not really.

The attempts at satire and commentary on political correctness and social media were interesting but I felt as if that took over. Yes, there was a plot, flicking back and forth between different characters that tied together in the end, but I didn’t really feel connected to the characters. Lots of people died but I didn’t really care about most of them because they were just stereotypes, and I know that was part of the discussion about identities, but if I only wanted satire and commentary, I wouldn’t read a novel. If you make us care, we might accept your message, whatever it is.

[Max Nemtsov · Rating 4 out of 5]

На 98% — прекрасная злободневная сатира и фантастика очень ближнего прицела, проросшая из всех, в частности, британских политических телевизионных сатир, и прекрасный срез нынешнего сутяжного общества. В этом смысле тут все гораздо интереснее и злее, например, Пелевина или Сорокина, во всяком случае, потому что Бен Элтон обходится без пустословия. Так что, я думаю, как обычно, никто ничего не поймет, «поколение Фёрби» либо обидится, либо скажет «ачотакова».
Оставшиеся 2% — собственно детективная составляющая — ну, в общем, тоже сатира, но на нее обидятся разве что российские спецслужбы, а таких среди наших читателей меньшинство.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epitomises the genre of satire, so over-the-top but also scarily familiar. Genius.

I've seen a fair amount of Ben Elton's comedy, and read several of his novels. I thought I had a handle on his politics, but it's to his credit that he's managed to satirise our contemporary crazy world so it is not clear whether he is railing against the world-gone-mad political correctness, harking back to a simpler time, or embracing it.

This is razor-sharp, relevant and completely on point. From police officers who can't say the right thing when a victim (or is it survivor who died?) is murdered in a park to the hammy old 'lech' of an actor maneuvering to stay relevant (and solvent) as his one man show is vilified... it all hits the mark.

The wider world in which the microcosm is occurring is just as crazy - not only have we had the Brexit referendum, but now a similar vote is forthcoming to decide on Britain's future as the United Kingdom, or if it will break up. Both campaigns eagerly fall on every social media trend and news item, spinning it to their cause, to outrageous effect.

It's just so ridiculous - Remember Them: historical sexual assaults prosecuted. Trial by Twitter. Outrage. Offence. And gradually... a number of murders.

A mathematician spinning the numbers to influence public opinion, a world-weary police officer struggling to keep up with inclusivity as well as other small cogs in this magnified melting pot of rage look so like our own world that it's hard to believe this is simply fiction.

I listened to this as an audiobook read by the author, and laughed aloud more than once walking along. Ben Elton is a talented narrator (as well as author), bringing his characters to life with ease. It was not at all a trial to keep up with each story and voice. A perfect audio read, really.

There are a lot of points made here, amidst the mystery of murder (though I thought this plot had a pretty obvious solution, it was nicely built up), and they hit their targets. It's the sort of book you'd like everyone to read - we all contribute to the stirring of the pot, we all judge quickly and follow trends blindly.

I'm going to be pushing friends and family to try this. One of his strongest I would say.

With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.

[Elisabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed. I have grown up with Ben Elton and love his work, but this just wasn’t funny or well crafted. It did give a look at how mad our society has become and how our outrage is manipulated by hashtags and how lots of us struggle to understand the changing way we identify gender. But way too many characters and not funny and there was not the usual Elton surprise factor in the story line. Unfortunately it did come across as another middle aged white man having a whinge. Ironic much.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutally satirical, angry, funny. Personal highlight was a slimy politician called Plantagenet Greased-Hogg, wonder who that could be?

[Sara Eames · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars (I would have given it 5,if it wasn't for the gratuitous use of foul language)

Bad language aside, this is a brilliant book - a searing satire on modern society. Be warned, nothing is off-limits in this book. Ok, you have to suspend your disbelief with parts of the plot, but that comes with the territory. The characters are well-written and the plot moves at a cracking pace - it never lets up for a moment...and the body counts increases as you move through the book.

I have to say that this book marks a return to top form for Ben Elton...this is definitely one of his better books. For me, it ranks alongside Dead Famous and Chart Throb (2 of my favourite books by Mr Elton). If you enjoy satire, then this book is highly recommended. (But, be warned, it contains a lot of strong language - which did take the echo off my enjoyment).

[Rebecca Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like to think that Ben Elton usually adds an extra layer of something that might just be true to really elevate a social phenomenon. This one was a little too literal for me, and maybe it's just the age gap showing, but his attempts at levity through his dialogue (usually a huge strength) fell a little flat. I felt like he was trying to explain mindsets and get his audience up to speed on the language and approaches rather than doing anything innovative with them.

There's a campy thread that goes throughout the book that felt like it would have been the far more compelling (and satisfying) thread to follow. Instead we get what feels like a very strangely timed book, with a cast of some real, some fake, and some thinly veiled characters. I wonder what the discussions behind the scenes were like, because this book feels a little compromised.

[Shkurenko Sanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Хорошая злободневная сатира, которая перестает такой казаться после первой половины книги. Ведь мы живём в таком мире прямо сейчас, пусть и в менее гиперболизированной форме, чем в книге. В очередной раз убеждаюсь, что человечество утратило в основной массе функцию системного мышления. Нам ведь некогда. Мы все свое свободное время заняты чтением твиттера, донесением своего мнения в фейсбуке и бесконечной озлобленностью. У нас нет времени остановится и подумать. Почему меня должно беспокоить то, что сейчас происходит в соцсетях? Это и есть реальная жизнь? Люди действительно так думают и могут об этом открыто заявить? Я вообще подписывался на паблик с политическими мемасами? Давайте думать, пожалуйста. Нам станет лучше жить.

[John Wedlake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely worth a read. As a generation x-er myself I can totally relate to the plight of Detective Matlock who feels cumbersome in this rapidly changing world of identity and obsessive political correctness.

Ben's satire remains sharp and I feel that this book aligns with some of his earlier works. However, the two last books and my favourites from Elton were: The Two Brothers and Time and Time Again which were of a different style to earlier novels and with Identity Crisis I feel Ben has shifted back to his earlier self.

In summary, worth a read especially if you enjoyed Ben's novels which were written in the 90s

[Shelly Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly Fantastic

Ben Elton has never been afraid to say what some of us think no matter how 'un -pc' it may be. This book is both a funny, sad and scarily true reflection of the world we now live in - where everyone is offended by everything and totally absurd issues are a thing of the moment and social media is king. For those of us born before the social media storm and the change in society we see today, it is indeed a masterpiece. Well done Ben Elton!

[Craig Bellamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It all makes sense

A hilariously funny, hard hitting account of contemporary identity politics. Suddenly it all makes sense. The best book on the subject I have ever read.

[Eli · Rating 1 out of 5]

My God, has this man ever met an editor. If he has, he should fire them.

Identity Crisis is a 2019 satirical novel about Brexit, cancel culture, Love Island, Cambridge Analytica, Putin, MeToo, Harvey Weinstein, trans rights, gay rights, multiculturalism, Twitter, popular feminism, incels, and a bunch of other shit that I probably forgot about because this book was at least 100 pages longer than it needed to be.

Full disclosure that I read this book because I'm researching reactionary contemporary satire. This book wasn't quite as reactionary as you might anticipate from the book cover, however. It's less Old Man Yells At Cloud and more 'well, isn't this all a bit befuddling?' The focus is very muddled, and the narrative completely loses steam halfway through.

Here is the plot: A woman - who is later revealed to be a trans woman in full 'surprise! a penis!' transphobic fashion - is hit over the head and murdered in a park. Other people who are involved in culture-war issues also keep turning up murdered or having committed suicide, including a TERF, a prominent feminist historian spearheading a terribly silly campaign to retrospectively prosecute Samuel Pepys for sexual abuse, the sexual predator actor she worked with, a couple of Christian hotel owners who turned away a gay couple, a far-right incel, a Black girl on a council estate, and a straight couple on a queer edition of Love Island.

By the end, it turns out the Russians are bumping off all these people in collaboration with a Cambridge Analytica-type organisation, so they can turn their deaths into more culture war fodder, push through Brexit, and destabilise the UK. Despite there being a lot of hullaballoo in the text about all these people being killed by the same assassin (a guy in a Spurs shirt - apparently Russian budgets have been cut and their assassins can only afford one shirt), we never actually see the assassins. It was Russia all along. Oh well! Everything goes back to normal. The Brexit referendum goes through, but everyone sort of agrees to ignore it. Pepys gets six years on the sex offender register. Ho hum.

If this sounds pointless and weird, that's because it is. What this description doesn't convey, however, is just How Much Stuff is going on in this book. We have a camera trained on each of the culture-war things that are contributing to the England Out (Leave) campaign: trans people and TERFs, Love Island, Cambridge Analytica, various MeToo-type stuff, the incel guy, different campaigns over different murdered people, scenes in the police station, a lot of Twitter. Elton has learned that some books have very short chapters, but he has not learned why. Reading this book feels like drinking six of those double shot soy milk lattes that the millennials and the transgenders like, then getting transformed into a pinball and bounced around a pinball machine. It's exhausting! There's none of the focus that makes for an interesting, cogent satire.

You can tell Elton has a lot of Feelings about all of the things that are happening. He's disdainful of Brexit and both the odious Leave and substanceless Remain campaigns. (For the record so am I, but I would also probably take cues from the fact that every Brexit novel has been shit.) He's a little confused about the gays and the transes and thinks it's all a bit silly, but being a dick to people is uncalled for. He's sympathetic to MeToo but thinks some of the women are going a little too far. He thinks Russian disinformation is bad. He dislikes Twitter. He thinks the women on Love Island have too much lip filler. He may have had some thoughts about economic or social policy at some point in his life, presumably.

Other satires I've read, by frothing-at-the-mouth reactionaries who are living in a terrifying fantasy world they have built in their heads, have been compelling nightmares where we tear through the wall and peer into the writhing psyche of the racist and/or transphobe. This guy isn't like that. He has some feelings. He has some comedy writing credits. Unfortunately his perspective is just very ordinary and undeveloped and he doesn't really have any jokes.

That's why the plot all falls apart at the end; there's not a strong enough ideological framework behind it to carry it through to a powerful finish. The book's less terrible than it would be if Elton was a full-on reactionary, but it's probably more boring.

The book is not devoid of unintentionally hilarious insights, however: I do now know that Ben Elton thinks that a gender- and sexuality-diverse Love Island would not work because the contestants would not be sufficiently interested in fucking/fighting each other. I have also been subjected to the character of Narsti Rimes, a 20-year-old grime artist whose dialect is, uh. Questionable.

Final note: there are SEVENTEEN T-SLURS IN THIS BOOK