Rancid Aluminum

by James Hawes

A lively novel about a man's stressful but ordinary life suddenly spinning out of control. By the author of "A White Merc With Fins".

Genres: Fiction, British Literature, Crime, Novels, Contemporary, Humor

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 1997

About the author

James Hawes grew up in Gloucestershire, Edinburgh and Shropshire. He took a First in German at Hertford College, Oxford, then did a postgrad theatre studies in Cardiff, Wales. Having failed as an actor, he worked as an English teacher in Spain. In 1985-6 he was in charge of CADW excavations at the now-UNESCO World Heritage site of Blaenavon Ironworks. He took a PhD on Nietzsche and German literature 1900-1914 at University College, London 1987-90, then lectured in German at Maynooth University (Ollscoil Mhá Nuad) in Ireland between 1989 and 1991 before doing so at Sheffield University and Swansea University.

James has published six novels, all with Jonathan Cape. He turned to creative non-fiction with a Kafka anti-biography, Excavating Kafka (2008) which became the subject of a BBC documentary. In 2015, Englanders and Huns was shortlisted for the Paddy Power Political Books of the Year 2015. The Shortest History of Germany, published in May 2017, reached #2 in the Sunday Times bestseller charts in April 2018, being pipped for #1 only by Noah Yuval Harari. The Shortest History of England appeared in October 2020 and reached #4 in the Times bestseller charts in July 2021.

James has reviewed and/or written for every UK broadsheet, on topics from DIY to Prince Philip. His journalistic high-points to date were the cover-story for The New Statesman in September 2017 and the long read The England Delusion in Prospect in August 2021; this was publicly described by Prof Ciaran Martin, CB, founding Chief Executive of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, as “a really brilliant essay on the historical origins of UK constitutional tensions”. He has appeared on Radio 4 Today, Channel 4 News, Sky News and GB News.

In 2022, he was “series story consultant” and key on-screen commentator in the eight-part BBC TV series “Art that Made Us”. He also wrote the accompanying book.

His next book will be The Shortest History of Ireland.

Reviews

[Paul Perry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite simply one of the most godawful pieces of garbage I have ever had the misfortune to pick up. I genuinely cannot believe this ever got published. There was just about enough characterisation to show the characters as one-dimensionally unpleasant and the writing was the prose version of aggressively bad soap opera. Imagine Colin Bateman or Chris Brookmyre, but without any talent or charm whatsoever. In fact, imagine that Piers Morgan decided to write a crime novel; halting yet aggressive delivery that the purveyor somehow thinks is charming, brainless populism underscored with an utter contempt for the audience.

The people who published and marketed this tripe should be hunted down and given a stern talking to, preferable with a pair of hot pliers.

[David Hill · Rating 1 out of 5]

I emailed the critic Ewan Ferguson of The Observer, who had written a gushing ‘laugh-out-loud type review, asking for my money back. I also wondered if he could point out which page was actually funny.
Am still waiting for a reply.

[Dennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book that was mildly amusing at best. You can do better.

[Maya Shafat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was fine. There were funny bits but they didn't exactly last or have much meaning to them. Easy to read, not especially interesting. The end was completely unfinished. The main charecter is a selfish prick. Nothing is real. Its quite depressing really. The long and nonsensical political monolouges towards the end were so pointless.

At first I thought its just one of the things you have to get into, like a White Merc With Fins, but no, its just bad.

[Georgina Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is rare that I read a book that is so bad, I physically cannot finish it. This book was so poorly written, with such a dogshit plot, I couldn’t finish the last half despite trying to soldier on. And I’ve finished some god awful books.
It reads like it was written by a 14 year old boy with a thesaurus and a god complex. The humour is smug and self congratulating and more than anything, it’s just boring. It’s misogynistic, but not in a way that attempts to be edgy and subversive or provide any commentary on sexism or society - rather it is just tired boring sexism that makes you groan.

I cannot believe the positive reviews that this received at the time. A book this bad can only have been a product of the late 90s. It serves only to act as a glimpse into a time when naming a chapter ‘The Morality of Wanking’ could have you named ‘the funniest British novelist writing today’ by the Observer.

Do yourself a favour and read literally anything else.

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

thoroughly and consistently entertaining (low-key) crime thriller. virtuosic use of callbacks and in-jokes put you (giggling) in the shoes of a questionable protagonist. reoccurring theme of autonomy and control is resolved with… be in the moment and maybe cheat on your wife? impressive accuracy of onomatopoeia.

“And if you choose instead to sit in your traffic-jam and bear it, then it cannot be unbearable, can it?”

[David Ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t exactly remember why I bought this - the book that inspired “one of the worst films ever made”. It’s not terrible, and has its moments - a few funny lines, some memorable scenes, even a few rather poetic passages. But mostly it’s a rather laddish caper revolving around sex, money and Russian mobsters. I didn’t find any of it “laugh out loud funny” as promised on the jacket.

[Artsoholic_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was struggling to go through this, still waiting for the wonderful and hilarious comedy that had been promised to me, when I realized that I'd reached the last page of it, having only had some glimpse of a mafia, sex and cheating. Let's not forget whatever disgusting stuff our protagonist was pulling from his teeth.

1.5 stars. (I'm being generous, not once did I laugh)

[Venatici · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable black comedy. An author to watch.

[Audun Nes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anti hero dark humor. Easy to read and some really hilarious scenes.

[Jake · Rating 2 out of 5]

hard read

[Euan Connelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's just about enough funny takes on getting older and balder to make the fairly uninteresting story worth finishing.

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the author spins an amusing tale, it is not as funny as some critics think, is somewhat juvenile and could have been much funnier. Easy read.

[Adrian Shanks · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF didn't take to it at all.

[Jo Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up in a pub book sale - wasn't really sure what to expect. It was a little odd, with a few great funny moments. The ending is unsatisfactory and I am convinced the author could have done better however it was a change from the norm and a change now and then is always good. Read it without expecting too much and hopefully you'll not be disappointed.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining, pop culture, twist in ending, quite surprising

[Corprew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great but somewhat dated book about love, lust, relationships, and the russian mob told from the standpoint of the perennial outsider.

[Daniel Proctor · Rating 2 out of 5]

an awful follow up to a fantastic first book.

[Rajendra prabhu k · Rating 3 out of 5]

kafkasque

[Hawkeye Hawkeye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the Humour

[Thejelman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as funny as billed, though had its moments. Somewhat ridiculous plot. Might have enjoyed it more when I was in my 30s.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining book, but definitely not as humerous as the newspaper reviews would have you believe.