Crash

The definitive cult, post-modern novel – a shocking blend of violence, transgression and eroticism – reissued with an introduction from Zadie Smith. After being bombarded endlessly by road-safety propaganda it was almost a relief to find myself in an actual accident. When James Ballard smashes his car into another, he becomes fascinated with the allure of violence.

His new friend Dr Robert Vaughan – a charismatic figure with a dubious sense of morality – leads him to a transgressive underworld of desire, where the collision of modernity and sex are pushed to the extremes.

In a society ruled by mass-media and technological advancements, are there any limits to humanity’s obsessions?