Dom Holdsworth, a Beckley resident, will talk about his two debut novels, both published during the pandemic and both political satire. The first of them, How to Buy a Planet, was the culmination of a twenty-year journey. Dom will pull highlights from this journey, including the strange coincidence of completing a novel in 2019 about a global pandemic and a global debt crisis. He will also talk about his experience of self-publishing these books on Amazon.

How to Buy a Planet is set in the year 2024. Drowning in debt following the pandemic, the world’s leaders have taken the only logical decision. They’ve sold the planet.

Shortlisted for The Selfies Fiction Award 2021. “Builds a palpable sense of cinematic tension” (BookLife Prize Critic’s report) – “Totally mesmerising” (Oxford Daily Information review) – “Echoes of Douglas Adams... Lots of fun” (Tim Harford, The Undercover Economist).

The Zoo of Intelligent Animals is a prequel set in 1977 – year of the Silver Jubilee, the Sex Pistols, and a spate of unexplained disappearances from across the academic world.

This novel satirises authoritarian regimes, while exploring themes of psychopathy, theodicy, and our relationship with the gods.

This talk will be on Zoom and in the pub.

The talk has been recorded. To request access to the recording, please email info@bacbs.org.