The Missionary
Publisher: Polygon
Published: November 1988
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9780948275487
Subjects: General; Popular English Fiction; Fiction - General; Fiction
First sentence: James Cameron Black tried to be a Christian;  was ex-Cliftonpar Public School, and there was nothing he loved  more than a decent game of cricket, but James Cameron Black had seen the bodies of the massacre.
Description: Described by critics as a severe, critical look at the British life surrendered to free market forces, this boo0k is more relevant than ever. (2009)

The book follows the casting down of  an old former colonial administrator of  Zimbabwe  and the atempts made to integrate him into the society of the poor in Scotland, the home of Adam Smith.  
His life intertwines with the upwardly mobile person bought to help him integrate into the ways of such society.
Notes: This book arose from discussions on the nature of  downward and pseudo-upward mobility by a group of working-class intellectuals who called themselves the Linwood Philosophy Club -Linwood being a Chrysler motor town in Scotland. 
The group:  Jeff Torrington (later to be a Whitbread literary award winner) John Mooney ( who provided information on the annals of the poor) Andrew Morrison ( who provided lashings of cynicism) and James Burke (who provided lots of ironic humour) and the author Alex. Cathcart.