His cast of characters includes: Janine, based on a childhood memory of Jane Russell in The Outlaw; Superb (short for Superbitch); and Big Momma, an obese lesbian.

On the first hardback and paperback editions, Gray wrote that "This already dated novel is set inside the head of an ageing, divorced, alcoholic, insomniac supervisor of security installations who is tippling in the bedroom of a small Scottish hotel.

Every stylistic excess and moral defect which critics conspired to ignore in the author's first books, Lanark and Unlikely Stories, Mostly, is to be found here in concentrated form."

1982, Janine is not pornography but a thoughtful and sad study of the human predicament; to be trapped in a world where the little man, woman or country will always be exploited by the big bullies.

"[2] In an introduction to the 2003 Canongate Classic edition, Will Self argues that the controversial pornographic fantasies illustrate McLeish's repression of his past real love affairs, reflect his reactionary political stance, and show the effects of his childhood experiences.

Dave Langford reviewed 1982, Janine for White Dwarf #55, and stated that "God and several SF themes make guest appearances, and there's a chapter of the most boggling typography since early Alfred Bester.