''High Society'' (

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

) is a darkly comic novel by English author

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bla ...

. The story focuses on Peter Paget, a Labour Party MP, and his mission to legalise all

recreational drugs Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasur ...

in the United Kingdom.

Plot summary

It also follows several other characters: *Tommy Hanson. Tommy Hanson is Britain's most successful musical artist and became famous after winning ''Pop Hero'' (ostensibly a reference to ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

''). He is an abuser of several drugs and narrates his story to people at his NA and AA meetings. His character is possibly inspired by

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

, whose name is mentioned several times in the novel. *Jessie. Jessie is a seventeen-year-old Scottish girl who, after running away from home to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, was coerced into

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

. The story follows her battle to escape her

pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

and her battle against her drug addiction. *Commander Barry Leman, a high ranking police officer who becomes obsessed with a personal quest for justice when a friend of his daughter's is horrifically sexually assaulted (and subsequently commits suicide) as a way of threatening him over his involvement with Peter Paget's campaign. *Emily Hilton-Smith, a drug-addicted socialite who publicly renounces drug use and joins Paget's campaign after the events of a night out force her to confront her addiction. *Samantha Spencer, Paget's beautiful but psychologically unhinged mistress. *Sonia, a teenage

drug mule A mule or courier is someone who personally smuggles contraband across a border (as opposed to sending by mail, etc.) for a smuggling organization. The organizers employ mules to reduce the risk of getting caught themselves. Methods of smugglin ...

imprisoned in a

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

jail.

Influence

Udta Punjab ''Udta Punjab'' () is a 2016 Indian black comedy crime drama film written and directed by Abhishek Chaubey, co-written by Sudip Sharma, and produced by Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Sameer Nair and Aman Gill under Balaji Motion Pictures in associa ...

is a 2016

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film, based on drug abuse. Directed and written by

Abhishek Chaubey Abhishek Chaubey (born 30 March 1977) is an Indian director, screenwriter and film producer known for his works in Hindi cinema. Early life Abhishek Chaubey was born in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh to Anand Mohan Chaubey and Sheela Chaubey. He spent ...

, the film has been alleged to be inspired from the novel. Similarities between the film and the novel such as names and professions of the drug abusing protagonists of High Society and Udta Punjab (both are musical artist named ''Tommy''), the circumstances of the meeting between Tommy and the female characters Jessie/Bauria (played by

Alia Bhatt Alia Bhatt (; born 15 March 1993) is a British actress of Indian descent who predominantly works in Hindi films. She has received several accolades including four Filmfare Awards. One of India's highest-paid actresses, she has appeared in ''F ...

in the film), Jessie/Bauria's back story (both run away from home after their dreams of becoming sports stars are quashed) and several other specific instances, such as the tattoo Tommy (in both stories) has inked. The makers of the film however have denied any inspiration from the novel.‘Udta Punjab’ versus ‘High Society’: Inspiration or a striking coincidence?
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References

External links

* 2002 British novels Novels by Ben Elton Bantam Press books {{2000s-comedy-novel-stub