Penguin Modern Classics: A Clockwork Orange

Fifteen-year-old Alex doesn't just like ultra-violence – he also enjoys rape, drugs and Beethoven's 9th. He and his gang rampage through a dystopian future, hunting for terrible thrills. But when Alex finds himself at the mercy of the state and subject to the ministrations of Dr Brodsky, the government psychologist, he finds that fun is no longer the order of the day... The basis for one of the most notorious films ever made, A Clockwork Orange is both a virtuoso performance from an electrifying prose stylist and a serious exploration of the morality of free will. 'I do not know of any other writer who has done as much with language... a very funny book.' William S. Burroughs