Magnus Mills
Encyclopedia
Background
Magnus Mills was born in BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and brought up in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. After graduating with an economics degree from Wolverhampton Polytechnic
University of Wolverhampton
The University of Wolverhampton is a British university located on four campuses across the West Midlands and Shropshire. The city campus is located in Wolverhampton city centre with a second campus at Compton Park, Wolverhampton; a third in Walsall and a fourth in Telford...
, he started a masters degree at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
but dropped out before completion.
Between 1979 and 1986 he built high-tensile fences for a living, an experience he drew upon for his first novel, The Restraint of Beasts
The Restraint of Beasts
The Restraint of Beasts is a tragicomic debut novel, written by Magnus Mills. In it, an anonymous narrator 'the foreman' works for a Scottish fencing company, run by Donald who is consumed by work and the desire for 'efficiency'...
. In 1986 Mills moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and became a bus driver, used for his 2009 novel The Maintenance of Headway
The Maintenance of Headway
The Maintenance of Headway is a novel by English author Magnus Mills published in 2009 by Bloomsbury.-Plot introduction:The book concerns bus-driving, Magnus Mills himself was once a bus-driver in London. The title refers to the concept that "a fixed interval between buses on a regular service can...
. Although much was made in the British press of Mills' bus-driving background, in reality he had written a column for The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
before becoming a novelist. (Rumours also claimed that he'd earned a total of £1 million, but the real figure was closer to £10,000.) Mills later claimed that he lost his gig at The Independent when "one week, in exactly the same place that my column had been, there was a new item entitled 'Bridget Jones' Diary'."
Mills's The Restraint of Beasts
The Restraint of Beasts
The Restraint of Beasts is a tragicomic debut novel, written by Magnus Mills. In it, an anonymous narrator 'the foreman' works for a Scottish fencing company, run by Donald who is consumed by work and the desire for 'efficiency'...
was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Whitbread First Novel Award in 1998, won the McKitterick Prize
McKitterick Prize
The McKitterick Prize is a United Kingdom literary prize. It is administered by the Society of Authors. It was endowed by Tom McKitterick, who had been an editor of The Political Quarterly but had also written a novel which was never published. The prize is awarded annually for a first novel by...
in 1999, and earned a rare jacket quote from reclusive author Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
, who called it "a demented, dead-pan comic wonder."
His 2005 novel, Explorers of the New Century
Explorers of the New Century
Explorers of the New Century is the fifth novel by Booker shortlisted author Magnus Mills, published in 2005.-Plot Introduction:Two expeditions set out to be the first to reach "the Agreed Furthest Point", by two different routes. As they encounter rigorous conditions and difficulties along the...
, was released to good reviews from The Sunday Times, The Independent, and The Telegraph, among others. Having written his first quartet of novels for Flamingo, Explorers of the New Century marked a new partnership with Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
publishers Bloomsbury. Mills' has also written two books of very short stories, Once in a Blue Moon
Once in a Blue Moon (stories)
Once in a Blue Moon is the second collection of short stories by Magnus Mills. As in his novels, each is told by an unnamed narrator :...
and Only When the Sun Shines Brightly for Acorn Books.
Style
Magnus Mills' style has been called 'deceptively' simple. His proseProse
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
style is rhythmic, often repetitious, and his humour is deadpan
Deadpan
Deadpan is a form of comic delivery in which humor is presented without a change in emotion or body language, usually speaking in a casual, monotone, solemn, blunt, disgusted or matter-of-fact voice and expressing an unflappably calm, archly insincere or artificially grave demeanor...
. He favours short sentences, little description and a lot of dialogue. Mills has cited Primo Levi
Primo Levi
Primo Michele Levi was an Italian Jewish chemist and writer. He was the author of two novels and several collections of short stories, essays, and poems, but is best known for If This Is a Man, his account of the year he spent as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland...
as a key influence.
Themes
Magnus Mills' books usually feature one or more working-class men as the protagonist(s). In The Restraint of BeastsThe Restraint of Beasts
The Restraint of Beasts is a tragicomic debut novel, written by Magnus Mills. In it, an anonymous narrator 'the foreman' works for a Scottish fencing company, run by Donald who is consumed by work and the desire for 'efficiency'...
, an unnamed supervisor works alongside two Scottish fence-builders as they move from location to location building high-tensile steel fences. The theme of repetition is established early on, as the men fall into a routine of working during the day, going to the local pub at night and 'accidentally' killing people along the way. The same kind of skewed repetition occurs in Mills' later works All Quiet on the Orient Express
All Quiet on the Orient Express
All Quiet on the Orient Express is the second novel by Booker shortlisted author Magnus Mills, published in 1999. As with his first novel it is a tragi-comedy with an unnamed narrator dealing with apparently simple but increasingly sinister situations....
and The Scheme for Full Employment
The Scheme for Full Employment
The Scheme for Full Employment is a novel by English author Magnus Mills published in 2003 by Flamingo.-Plot introduction:The scheme referred to in the title involves the driving of 'UniVans' from depot to depot picking up and unloading cargo - the cargo being replacement parts for UniVans...
. All Quiet on the Orient Express
All Quiet on the Orient Express
All Quiet on the Orient Express is the second novel by Booker shortlisted author Magnus Mills, published in 1999. As with his first novel it is a tragi-comedy with an unnamed narrator dealing with apparently simple but increasingly sinister situations....
is about a man who stops at a camp site in the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
to kill some time before embarking on a journey on the Orient Express
Orient Express
The Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train service originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. It ran from 1883 to 2009 and is not to be confused with the Venice-Simplon Orient Express train service, which continues to run.The route and rolling stock...
. Gradually, he becomes involved in the local community and offered jobs until it becomes clear that he may never leave. The Scheme for Full Employment
The Scheme for Full Employment
The Scheme for Full Employment is a novel by English author Magnus Mills published in 2003 by Flamingo.-Plot introduction:The scheme referred to in the title involves the driving of 'UniVans' from depot to depot picking up and unloading cargo - the cargo being replacement parts for UniVans...
tells of a "beautiful" scheme whereby people are employed to drive around on set routes, stopping at depots to offload the contents of their vans.
Freedom
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
is a key theme in Mills' work. What do the fences in The Restraint of Beasts
The Restraint of Beasts
The Restraint of Beasts is a tragicomic debut novel, written by Magnus Mills. In it, an anonymous narrator 'the foreman' works for a Scottish fencing company, run by Donald who is consumed by work and the desire for 'efficiency'...
suggest? Who, or what are the 'beasts'? Can the protagonist of All Quiet on the Orient Express
All Quiet on the Orient Express
All Quiet on the Orient Express is the second novel by Booker shortlisted author Magnus Mills, published in 1999. As with his first novel it is a tragi-comedy with an unnamed narrator dealing with apparently simple but increasingly sinister situations....
ever assert his freedom? Does it exist? This theme is explored most vividly in Three to See the King
Three to See the King
Three to See the King, the third novel by Booker Prize-shortlisted author Magnus Mills, published in 2001, is part parable and part speculative fiction....
, whose characters live in a largely allegorical world that lacks many of the identifiable conventions of working class life—they don't have jobs, pubs or anything more than a rudimentary social network. The main character attempts to establish a simple freedom for himself within his small, beloved house, only to find himself at the mercy of unsolicited relationships and the ideology of a charismatic newcomer. Like most of Mills' characters, he remains desperately attached to his routine, attempting to meet each twist with a calm, reasonable approach, until it becomes impossible. In Explorers of the New Century
Explorers of the New Century
Explorers of the New Century is the fifth novel by Booker shortlisted author Magnus Mills, published in 2005.-Plot Introduction:Two expeditions set out to be the first to reach "the Agreed Furthest Point", by two different routes. As they encounter rigorous conditions and difficulties along the...
, the characters begin as masters of their mules and the art of exploration, but as their journey continues, the harsh climate and terrain of the land strip them of control over their own destinies. At the outset of the book, the explorers are able to assign or deny freedom to their mules; by the end, most of the explorers are dependent on the mules for their own freedom.
Mills himself has talked about themes of punishment and reward as being key themes in his work, particularly in The Restraint of Beasts
The Restraint of Beasts
The Restraint of Beasts is a tragicomic debut novel, written by Magnus Mills. In it, an anonymous narrator 'the foreman' works for a Scottish fencing company, run by Donald who is consumed by work and the desire for 'efficiency'...
. The leaders of the expeditionary teams in Explorers of the New Century
Explorers of the New Century
Explorers of the New Century is the fifth novel by Booker shortlisted author Magnus Mills, published in 2005.-Plot Introduction:Two expeditions set out to be the first to reach "the Agreed Furthest Point", by two different routes. As they encounter rigorous conditions and difficulties along the...
struggle with punishment as a means of encouraging and disciplining their mules, never able to achieve exactly the results they desire but fearful of interacting with the mules by any means more complex than punishment and reward.
Novels
- The Restraint of BeastsThe Restraint of BeastsThe Restraint of Beasts is a tragicomic debut novel, written by Magnus Mills. In it, an anonymous narrator 'the foreman' works for a Scottish fencing company, run by Donald who is consumed by work and the desire for 'efficiency'...
(1998) - All Quiet on the Orient ExpressAll Quiet on the Orient ExpressAll Quiet on the Orient Express is the second novel by Booker shortlisted author Magnus Mills, published in 1999. As with his first novel it is a tragi-comedy with an unnamed narrator dealing with apparently simple but increasingly sinister situations....
(1999) - Three to See the KingThree to See the KingThree to See the King, the third novel by Booker Prize-shortlisted author Magnus Mills, published in 2001, is part parable and part speculative fiction....
(2001) - The Scheme for Full EmploymentThe Scheme for Full EmploymentThe Scheme for Full Employment is a novel by English author Magnus Mills published in 2003 by Flamingo.-Plot introduction:The scheme referred to in the title involves the driving of 'UniVans' from depot to depot picking up and unloading cargo - the cargo being replacement parts for UniVans...
(2003) - Explorers of the New CenturyExplorers of the New CenturyExplorers of the New Century is the fifth novel by Booker shortlisted author Magnus Mills, published in 2005.-Plot Introduction:Two expeditions set out to be the first to reach "the Agreed Furthest Point", by two different routes. As they encounter rigorous conditions and difficulties along the...
(2005) - The Maintenance of HeadwayThe Maintenance of HeadwayThe Maintenance of Headway is a novel by English author Magnus Mills published in 2009 by Bloomsbury.-Plot introduction:The book concerns bus-driving, Magnus Mills himself was once a bus-driver in London. The title refers to the concept that "a fixed interval between buses on a regular service can...
(2009) - A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In (2011)
Short story collections
- Only When the Sun Shines Brightly (1999)
- Once in a Blue MoonOnce in a Blue Moon (stories)Once in a Blue Moon is the second collection of short stories by Magnus Mills. As in his novels, each is told by an unnamed narrator :...
(2003) - Screwtop ThompsonScrewtop ThompsonScrewtop Thompson, Booker Prize-shortlisted author Magnus Mills' third collection of short stories, brings together ten short tales that "trundle gently between the ordinary, absurd and the outright surreal." Often tagged as the "bus driver novelist", Mills writes short stories described as...
(2010)