Dead Air
Iain Banks
 The first person narrative begins on 11 September 2001, and Banks uses the protagonist's conversations - both on the radio and off - to discuss the consequences of the terrorist attacks in the United States on that day. Ken Nott is at a loft party in London at the crucial moment. The reader hears many of Nott's shock-jock lines ("Guns for nutters only; makes sense.") and sees him described as a drug and booze fuelled, sexually promiscuous party animal. His politics are left-wing and libertarian, and he rants at every chance. Nott's various girlfriends (including Jo, who does public relations for an indie band called Addicta), his long-suffering radio show colleague Phil, and his black DJ friend Ed are described. Apart from the expected difficulties associated with being a politically controversial radio DJ, everything is going smoothly for Ken until he meets Celia (or "Ceel"), a gangster's wife, who he falls in love with. An indiscretion with a mobile phone and an answering machine leads him into some difficult and frightening situations.