Ex- library copy.
Meltdown (full title: Meltdown: It’s Crunch Time) is a sharp satirical novel by Ben Elton, published in hardback in 2009 by Bantam Press (first edition, ~384 pages, ISBN 9780593061923).
It follows a group of wealthy, privileged London friends—led by reckless City trader Jimmy Corby—who’ve thrived on the pre-2008 boom of easy money, luxury, and excess. When the global financial crisis hits, their gilded lives collapse: jobs vanish, fortunes evaporate, marriages strain, and they face the brutal realities of bust after years of greedy, ignorant indulgence.
Elton skewers bankers, politicians, celebrity culture, and Notting Hill elitism with fast-paced, laugh-out-loud humour and real anger. It’s a biting, topical comedy-drama that captures the 2008 credit crunch perfectly—funny, furious, and very much of its moment.
The hardback edition has a striking dust jacket with financial chaos imagery. Great for fans of dark, social satire like Elton’s stand-up or The Thick of It.
