A rollickingly good read that will have you flicking through the pages in eager anticipation of James’ next adventure.

Set in 1945, James is persuaded by his forthright girl friend Prudence to turn his back on the pressures from his guardians to enter the clergy and signs on aboard the ill managed Merchant Ship the Plantagenet Breed. James is a touching hero, an inexperienced and at times naive boy of seventeen. His journey, as he ‘does some growing up’, at times has us laughing out loud.

Aldiss draws the reader in masterfully. This is not the usual ‘boy’s growing up story but rather a slice of the old-fashioned tramp ship seaman’s world revisited. The sounds and smells of the voyage come to life through his vivacious imagery. The pages are packed with sexual energy and humour, encapsulating the essence of the inexperienced anticipation of desire. Each port leaves James with a lesson; while the mail from Prudence back home leaves him despairing as their world’s drift further apart. Bit by bit James’ own adventures sexual and otherwise reveal a mature and more confident man emerging.

Sell the Pig and Buy me Out is an engaging and a revealing tale of the origins of the modern-day University Gap year. It is a book that transports you away from the comfort of your own home and out into the maelstrom of humanity that was the old time sailor’s world.