Sophie Gee

But they really go together in this very organic sort of symbiotic way.

So let's have a synopsis.

Here we go.

The novel takes place over the course of a single day in the 15-year-old Billy Casper's life, and that's really interesting in and of itself.

So it's building on the tradition of Mrs Dalloway and Ulysses, but it's so different from those very literary modernist masterpieces.

Billy has woken early when his older brother Judd, who he shares a bed with, yes, that is not a mistake, he shares a bed with his brother Judd, gets up for work at the coal pit.

Billy has to get up very soon afterwards to do his paper round, managing to steal two blocks of chocolate from the newsagent that he works for and food from a passing milk truck.

When he returns home to get ready for school, he encounters his mother, who we discover is indifferent to his well-being, prone to bringing strange men home at night and most concerned that he uses his lunch break to place a bet on other horses for his brother, who's unable to do it for himself.

Before he leaves for school, Billy goes into the back shed where he keeps a pet kestrel.

Jonti, it's not a pet.

No, it's not.

They are not pets, yeah.

A long flashback shows us how he stole this kestrel from its nest and stole a book on falconry from a bookshop to help him train it.

The local state school where Billy goes is a horror show.

It's a secondary modern, which is a particular category of school that we'll be talking more about.

The headmaster, Mr. Grice, is a psychopath who during assembly selects certain boys, including Billy, for corporal punishment because of minor offences.

During English class, Mr Farthing, the only humane teacher in the school, discovers Billy's passion for hawking and falconry and has him describe his work with cares to the class.

Billy comes to life and he holds the class spellbound.

The next lesson provides one of the great set pieces, both of the book and the film.

It's physical education, PE, with Mr Sugden, a total loser who uses school football games to act out his fantasies of sporting greatness.