Keep the Apsidistra Flying

A novel by the author of 1984 about a man who is determined to reject middle-class standards but finds that living in heroic poverty is more difficult than he anticipated. Gordon Comstock despises middle-class materialism and shallowness—the worship of money the pursuit of dull stuffy respectability. He quits his lucrative job as an advertising copywriter to devote himself to poetry and other high-minded endeavours in order to live up to his aspirations. Low-paying part-time work and a persistent cash crisis on the other hand are not exactly conductive to creativity and pleasure. He even lashes out at his dedicated girlfriend Rosemary whom he thinks of choosing a wealthy man as a result of his stress.