High-Rise

the long version

Now a major film: J.G. Ballard's compelling and unnerving tale of what happens when life in a luxury apartment building descends into chaos. 'Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months.' Within the walls of an elegant forty-storey high-rise, the affluent tenants are hell-bent on an orgy of destruction. Cocktail parties degenerate into marauding attacks on 'enemy' floors, and the once-luxurious amenities become an arena for mayhem. In this visionary novel, the veneer of civilised society is stripped away as the inhabitants of the high-rise, driven by primal urges, create a dystopian world ruled by intimidation and violence.