To Arthur Seaton, key worker on a lathe in a Nottingham cycle factory, life is one long battle with authority. You don't need to give Arthur more than one chance to do the Government or trick the foreman. And when the day's work is over, Arthur is off to the pubs, raring for adventure.

He is a warrior of the bottle and the bedroom - his slogan is 'If it's going, it's for me' - for his aim is to cheat the world before it can cheat him. And never is the battle more fiercely joined than on Saturday night.

But Sunday morning is the time of reckoning, the time for facing up to life - the time, too, you run the risk of getting hooked! Arthur is no exception.