Contemporary British literature and urban space : after Thatcher Contemporary British Literature and Urban Space distils the possibilities for a new way of thinking about space and identity that challenges the seemingly innocuous methods of spatial acquisition and ownership that are inherently tied to Thatcherite notions of privatization. With this in mind Kim Duffs study examines how Iain Sinclair Julian Barnes Irvine Welsh JG Ballard Monica Ali Hanif Kureishi Alan Hollinghurst and Will Self write and rewrite the city as they capture subvert and uncover the tensions inherent in the transformation of British urban space by proposing an understanding of alternative spaces (including the new spatial possibilities of television and communications technology) and emergent citizens identities and communities that developed and continue to develop as a result of Thatcherism.