Going Under

Harvill Secker

By Emily Davies

*Set in the small run down Welsh town of Crindau not far from Cardiff, Going Under tells the story of one man’s struggle for survival in the face of multinational industrial development. When ‘Sunny Jim Electronics’ reveal plans to relocate to India, cashing in on cheap labour and lower production costs, their faithful workers face redundancy and a bleak future.   *

For the people of Crindau, Sunny Jim’s does more than simply provide a weekly income for hundreds of workers, it provides the life, blood and soul for a town which has little else going for it.

Or so it would seem, until Aidan Walsh devises a cunning plan, which may not ultimately succeed in saving his and his friends’ jobs, but which certainly acts to bring together the town’s inhabitants, reigniting their sense of community, friendship and faith.   

Burying himself six feet underground because ‘that’s where I might as well be when they take my job away,’ with a small patch of daylight entering through a self constructed periscope-cum-delivery chute, Aidan vows to remain buried until Sunny Jim himself agrees to negotiate the unreasonable decision to move abroad.   

The five weeks which follow are recounted in a hilarious, non-stop, enthralling sequence of tales and events, from Aidan’s unusual path to self discovery and the self-revelations of Crindau’s population, for whom he becomes both spokesperson and confidante.   

Between entertaining his raunchy midnight flashers, his sinister nocturnal pranksters and his heartwarming caring colleagues, Aidan deals with the practicalities of life under ground. Sleeping, eating, exercising, and excreting, Aidan manages it all!  

With the help of his charismatic, budding thespian son, and his not so enthusiastic daughter, Aidan manages to woo the world, from the local community to the international press.

Faced with a blank and silent response from Sunny Jim, and armed with his new-found gift for manipulating the press, Aidan takes his challenge one step further putting himself forward for local MP. As a true voice for the people Aidan seems set to storm the elections. However, he soon learns the brutality of politics, and is ousted by the rival candidate and defeated by Sunny Jim.

The disappointment of defeat is however short lived. The people of Crindau have been brought together, fighting to save their town, and Aidan Walsh has restored his faith in himself and arises from his grave a stronger, wiser and happier man.