Say the name Aldous Huxley and the novel that immediately springs to mind is his dystopian work Brave New World (1932). How many of his ten other books could you name? If it’s time for you to brush up, you could start with After Many a Summer (1939), which is the story of Jo Stoyte, a Hollywood millionaire who fears death so much that he pours his money into scientific research to discover the secret of immortality.
This satire with a sci-fi twist is about the superficiality of Hollywood — it was published two years after the author moved there with his family. The first chapter of the book was written not long after they arrived. You can see him in the character of the British scholar Jeremy Pordage. He has just arrived to work as Stoyte’s archivist and sees LA for the first time from the back of a car. He comments on the mix of ethnicities, the slums contrasting with the wealthy business districts, the filling stations and the billboards: “MALTS CABINS DINE AND DANCE AT THE CHATEAU HONOLULU SPIRITUAL HEALING AND COLONIC IRRIGATION BLOCK LONG HOTDOGS BUY YOUR DREAM HOME NOW!” It’s an entertaining snapshot of the city, frozen in time.
The Times wrote in 1939 that the novel had the same “freakish creatures in whom the author delights”. It has been said that it inspired Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane. This is a novel about immortality, with intrigue, science, greed and even a mistress thrown in for good measure. What a fun way to pass a few hours.
After Many a Summer by Aldous Huxley, Vintage, 314pp, £8.99. To buy this book for £8.54, visit thetimes.co.uk/bookshop or call 0845 2712134
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