 The Pianoplayers

The Pianoplayers is a 1986 novel by Anthony Burgess that draws on memories of his early life in Manchester in the 1920s and 1930s, and particularly the life of his father Joe, a pub and cinema pianist.The child narrator Ellen Henshaw and her father Billy have a series of picaresque adventures in Manchester and Blackpool, culminating in the death of Billy as he attempts to break the world record for non-stop pianoplaying; later in life, Ellen travels the world setting up 'schools of love' and becomes the most sought after 'companion' in France.