The Adulterants

In this latest from Dunthorne (Wild Abandon), first-person narrator Ray is a thirtysomething tech writer who is emotionally drifting and amused and/or bemused by just about everything. The first half of the novel drifts with him and is mildly interesting. Then catastrophes hit. A house he and his wife are hoping to buy is sold from under them, and they begin to drift (that word again) apart. Worse, during the 2011 London riots, with the city burning and looters everywhere, Ray, wandering from a picnic outing and wearing an outrageous outfit, has his picture taken with a silly grin and a can of lager. Soon this image in outsized form shows up on a billboard, and Ray becomes an international symbol of blithe entertainment at the tragic riots (which is not far from the truth). He is then arrested, receives hate mail (and one very objectionable package), loses his job, is evicted from his apartment, and learns that his wife prepares to leave him for a male nurse. Ray's self-absorption shades this toward black humor, but there's a lot to muse on about today's mores.