Possibly the oddest opening line I’ve ever read and the book only gets weirder. We agreed at the start, however, that this book is not intended to be realistic – although those of us living in blocks of flats could see flashes of realism in the situation – and is instead an allegory and an amplification of the actions of humanity in times of crisis.

High-Rise interestingly reveals that even among people of one class or social stratum, divisions and shifts of allegiance into tribes will take place. There’s always someone to look down on or blame. Politically, this is perhaps a particularly good time to be reading such a book.

 The story switches between representatives of the tribes, allowing the reader alone to realise the depth of paranoia among the inhabitants of the high-rise. Alongside the author, residents are shown to be orchestrating and furthering the ‘experiment’, videoing events and manipulating those around them. We found it hard to understand why they wished to exacerbate the situation and at the same time keep it a secret from the outside world. As society breaks down, the adults become primeval cave(wo)men – a behaviour that in the character of Laing, for example, leads to uncomfortable extremes.