Council capers

Christian Vassie's latest novel is a comic farce in the style of Tom Sharpe's Wilt books. And, following the well-known dictat that you should write about what you know, the Lib Dem city councillor has done just that.

Making Plans For Michael is a farcical romp about a young innocent elected on to a city council - and being completely unprepared for what happens next.

The novel starts with a planning meeting in which Coun Michael Young has a comic mishap with an ice cream. A site inspection of Churling House, a grand Victorian mansion that property developer Bernard Allcomers wants to knock down to build flats, quickly follows.

Then things really get moving.

A bunch of ecowarriors arrive on the scene, hell-bent on saving Churling House for the wildlife in its extensive grounds.

They sabotage a planning meeting at which the house's future is being decided, kidnap the city council leader, and then barricade themselves in Churling House with him to prevent the wreckers moving in.

A reality TV company gets wind of the stand-off, and air-drops TV cameras into the house so the besieged green campaigners can broadcast live, round-the-clock footage of what goes on.

The novel gets increasingly madcap, featuring everything from great crested newts released into the grounds to thwart the development, to a plague of tarantulas, an anaconda, a mini-bus driver turned deranged survivalist - and even a chieftain tank.

Through it all, Michael stumbles uncomprehendingly, never quite knowing what he's got himself into.

He tears his trousers trying to climb into the grounds of Churling House to "rescue" his girlfriend Laura; has an encounter with a snake in a mud-filled trench; and ends up having sex, entirely without his own consent, with a buxom eco-warrior who has decided he is to be the father of her children.

It is all great fun but, reading it, you might be forgiven for thinking Christian doesn't have too high an opinion of city councillors.

The members of his fictional city of Escrington's council are a sorry lot. There is a corrupt leader who is hand-in-glove with a bullying developer, and who has an unfortunate penchant for sex bondage games with young women; a planning committee chairman who enjoys taking photos of women's underwear on his mobile phone; and a gallery of posturing and self-serving backbench councillors who clearly like nothing more than the sound of their own voices.

Is this what he really thinks of councillors? He's not going to have many friends left on the council, is he?

None of them are in any way connected to any councillors he knows, Christian stresses hastily. True, there are a few real councillors who do like the sound of their own voices. But he's certainly never seen any who are in any way corrupt.

"In fact, I value highly the fact that councillors of all parties are prepared to give up their time to do something for their community. They do it for very little money."

So why do the councillors in his book come across so badly?

It's a farce, he says. He wanted to write something funny. And to be fair, it's not only the councillors who don't look good in his book - it's everybody, from the local police chief to the sleazy reporter on the local evening newspaper.

Just like the Wilt books, in fact - everybody is there to be knocked down, in the interests of slapstick comedy.

"We all need a laugh from time to time," Christian says. This should certainly give you more than a few.

• Making Plans For Michael is published by Christian's own imprint, Ingini Press, priced £9.99. It is available from Borders, Waterstones and all good bookshops. Christian will be signing copies at Waterstones in High Ousegate from 2-4pm on October 20 and at Borders in Davygate from 2pm on November 3.