Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry
Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry is a 1973 novel by British writer B. S. Johnson. It tells the story of Christie Malry, a young man who treats his life like double-entry bookkeeping. He believes he can balance his own “debts” to society with “credits” earned by acts against it. He longs for money and sex, and to learn how money works he works at a London bank, then takes a bookkeeping course. After a short spell at a sweet factory, he decides to apply the double-entry system to his life.
From small acts of revenge—often vandalism—Malry moves to bigger schemes. Every annoyance or nuisance he suffers, such as being forced to walk on a certain street because of a building’s position, is countered by a calculated response. He grows more angry and begins planning violent acts, including hoax bombs, an actual bombing, and even poisoning London’s drinking water. He dies of cancer before he can bomb the House of Commons. He says he is like Guy Fawkes, but he knows he will be caught.
Malry follows a strict code of twelve principles, the first of which is “I am a cell of one,” meaning he will not discuss his actions with anyone, not even close friends or his girlfriend, Shrike. The novel is written in a self-aware way: characters often acknowledge they are in a book, and the narrator and author insert themselves into the story. For example, the author occasionally comments on the text’s length or on metafictional ideas, sometimes with humor.
The book was first published in 1973 by Collins. It has been reprinted by New Directions in 1985 and 2009, and a 2001 edition with a foreword by John Lanchester appeared from Pan Macmillan. The story was adapted for radio in 1973 for BBC Radio London. A film adaptation came out in 2000, directed by Paul Tickell and written by Simon Bent, with Nick Moran playing Christie.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:58 (CET).