Model Behaviour

'I'm sick of all this pointless glamour,' his glamorous girlfriend said. 'I want a simple life.' If only Connor McKnight had listened. Now Philomena is off to California, allegedly on a fashion shoot, but he doesn't know where she is staying and a sinking feeling tells him that she might never come back. Connor's friend Jeremy Green is no help: he is the 'famous short-story writer' (which they both agree is an oxymoron) with an imminent publication date and some people holding his dog to ransom for reasons too Machiavellian to blurb. Connor's sister Brook, genius mathematician and anorexic, is too busy anguishing over Rwanda and Bosnia. His editor at "Ciao Bella", 'a lifestyle magazine for young women', is only concerned about Connor's profile of Chip Ralston, the celebrity of the month whose PR fortress has suddenly become impenetrable. Thank goodness for Pallas, a knock-out table dancer with a heart of gold. As the reader wonders with Connor what's happened to Philomena, if Jeremy will get his dog back, and whether our hero will get his interview with Chip, the wonderful narrative roars away at a stunning clip. Jay McInerney is on absolutely top form in this hilarious (and serious) novel about celebrity, romance and 20th-century literature.