Robert Maitland, a thirty-five-year-old architect, is driving home from his London offices when a blowout sends his speeding Jaguar hurtling out of control. After smashing through a temporary barrier, he finds himself dazed and disorientated on a traffic island below three converging motorways. But when he tries do climb the embankment or flag down a passing car for help, it provesimpossible - and he finds himself imprisoned on the concrete island. Maitland must survive using only what he can find in his crashed car. As in all J. G. Ballard's best work, Concrete Island provides an unnerving study of our modern lives and world. With his alienating, "Ballardian" view of normal events, this is a unique novel from one of the twentieth century's finest writers.

