Now a major film: J. G. Ballard s compelling and unnerving tale of what happens when life in a luxury apartment building descends into chaos. Later as he sat on his balcony eating the dog Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months. Within the walls of an elegant forty-storey high-rise the affluent tenants are hell-bent on an orgy of destruction. Cocktail parties degenerate into marauding attacks on enemy floors and the once-luxurious amenities become an arena for mayhem. In this visionary novel the veneer of civilised society is stripped away as the inhabitants of the high-rise driven by primal urges create a dystopian world ruled by intimidation and violence. And no one wants it to stop