Review of Glitterati by Oliver Langmead

2084: The Anthology appeared a few years ago in tribute to the 70th anniversary of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four. A solid anthology of stories presenting innovative spins on dystopia, one which stuck out was Oliver Langmead's “Glitterati”. Featuring a world in which Haute couture ruled, fashionistas were at the top while uglies and the unfashionable languished at the bottom. Langmead keeping the tone appropriate for such an over-the-top idea, the visuals were on point describing a day-in-the-life of a glitterati. Possessing substance, in 2022 Langmead expanded the story into a novel of the same name, Glitterati.

Glitterati opens with the short story from 2084. It's a Tuesday afternoon and fashionista Simone is at home, getting ready for a typical Tuesday afternoon in the office reading fashion magazines. Fashion magazines dictate that Tuesday is white day, so he spends the appropriate hours preparing his makeup and outfit, only to discover, to his horror, that he has committed the faux pas of faux pas; today is in fact Wednesday, purple day. And making matters worse, his most fashionable of bosses has scheduled a surprise visit to see how his team are dressing themselves. Wearing white when he should have worn purple just the beginning, Simone's day only unravels further, including bodily fluids, inopportune paparazzi, and the ickiest of all things, a crying child. Just how far he plummets, however, is for the reader to discover.

In comparison to other well known dystopian novels like Brave New World, The Handmaid's Tale, or Nineteen Eightyfour, the premise of Glitterati may seem weak. However, don't let that deter you. Yes, it is farcical, and yes Langmead puts the reader into the uncomfortable shoes of an anti-hero. But he does so in a fashion (no pun intended) that sticks its key human points to reality. Simone's daily goals of décor, poise, and personal aesthetic do not rank as high on our list of priorities (at least most of us), yet the social situations he becomes a part and the economic-political system he is unwittingly a part of do not belie the glitter and lights. Orwell does exist at the core of Glitterati, it's only covered in the clothes of an utterly non-standard plotline.

The latter point is worth repeating: there is no way the reader can predict the direction or resolution of Glitterati, even with twenty-five pages to go. Langmead has created a unique world, and invests in it a unique plot. This means that there is no story arc of redemption for Simone wherein he learns what is really important in life and changes himself for the better. No. This also means that there is no “hero rallies the lowly masses to take down a corrupt government”. No. Simone's story is his own.

In the end, Glitterati does what 95% of the current fiction market does not: be wholly original. You've never read a novel like it, and in 2022 that is saying something. But beyond unique, it's also readable, enjoyable. Fashionistas, fake cheek kisses, glamour magazines, petty feuds, and ultimately fashion as art—it's not your grandpa's dystopia. And the pure storyline itself, while perhaps initially tempting to count off as tried-and-true, likewise chooses its own path. To say is to spoil, so I will only say Simone's character arc ends in a place no reader could expect or guess, and one on point with the tone and timbre of the novel. I don't know if Glitterati will win any awards or be noticed by the mainstream, but it is something original in today's world, and that may be worth more.