 Prior to his relocation in 2000 to Brighton, Noon set most of his stories in some version of his native city of Manchester.Noon's first four novels, which share ongoing characters and settings, are commonly referred to as the 'Vurt series' (after the first novel).Although the fictional chronology leads from "Automated Alice" to "Nymphomation" to "Vurt" to "Pollen", the books were originally published as "Vurt" (1993), "Pollen" (1995), "Automated Alice" (1996), and "Nymphomation" (1997).