Good for Nothing

A novel in which peaks of humour and troughs of tragedy intermingle as Flip Mellis tries to get his life together, after a suicide attempt - like much else in his life - fails to achieve its goal. Overweight, weak-willed, and quick to criticise others, Flip has a self-fulfilling fatalism which leads him to stumble through each day, hoping against hope that he can get a job, mend his marriage and rebuild his life. Perceptively observed characters from American small-town life populate the book in hilarious cameos and get in the way of Flip's well-meaning attempts to reform himself.