News about Michael Bentine

Keith Waterhouse, columnist, author, playwright, and late of this parish, is best known for his insightful Billy Liar, Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell's, and his twice-weekly reflections on the madness of modern life. Office Life, a satire on the state of Britain in the 1970s, was published in 1978 by Keith. It was based on a fictional company where everyone seems to be busy doing nothing. A newly hired employee sets out to find out what the company really does, while the staff are in endless meetings, not answering phones, going for lunch, organizing whip-rounds, and other such things. The answer, it turns out, is, er, absolutely bugger all. British Albion Ltd's entire purpose is to keep people employed. Keith's book was released in the Seventies as a sharp reminder of a nation in terminal decline. Today, it could be a model for just about every aspect of government endeavour. Never heard of Human Resources, diversity leaders, or wellness coordinators, let alone Working From Home. But if he'd been writing Office Life now, the book would have been brimming with them.