The story revolves around Tom, a tourist (presumed to be American, although that is never made clear) visiting an unnamed country that seems to be a mix of Africa, Middle East, Caribbean and Australia.

He becomes embroiled in a legal minefield when flicking a cigarette butt, his last before quitting, off his holiday apartment balcony.

His ensuing journey to make suitable reparations takes him across the entire country with its different territories and rules.

But just beneath the brash surface shimmer the unmistakable apparitions of Self’s masters: Swift, Voltaire and Lewis Carroll are all partly responsible for the ingenious, mephitic invention that is The Butt.

[1]Michael Bywater, writing for The Independent wrote... Hard to enumerate what Self has sodded up here, right?