The Maintenance of Headway

By Magnus Mills

'Magnus Mills, the bus driver who also writes novels, is a true original in a world of clones. His sparsely written books somehow manage to make the everyday deeply bizarre, occasionally menacing and often funny ... It's real life, but not quite realism, and strangely brilliant.' Kate Saunders, The Times

'It's a matter of procedure,' I explained. 'Strictly for the record. You don't get sacked from this job unless you did what Thompson did.' 'What did he do then?' 'We never mention it.'

Enter the bizarre world of the bus driver, a strange but all too familiar universe in which 'the timetable' and 'the maintenance of headway' are sacred, but where the routes can change with the click of an inspector's fingers.

This brilliant short novel is a gently absurd examination of the British bus system and its peculiarities, where the demands of the hapless passengers are virtually ignored and where it is fine to be a little bit late but utterly unforgivable to be a moment early.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Aug 3, 2009
• ISBN: 9781408803530

Magnus Mills

Magnus Mills is the author of The Field of the Cloth of Gold and eight other novels, including The Restraint of Beasts, which won the McKitterick Prize and was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread (now the Costa) First Novel Award in 1999. His most recent novel, The Field of the Cloth of Gold was published to great critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2015. His books have been translated into twenty languages. He lives in London.

Reviews for The Maintenance of Headway

[revcpa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It is the little things that we take for granted. Such as the way that the world works when we are not paying close attention. Mr. Mills takes what would seem to be a mundane activity and turns it into a compelling look at the hidden mechanics that keeps our lives moving. While the novel is short and there is not a large amount of character development, the discussion of how the buses are supposed to run - not too late, not too early - demonstrates that there is more to bus driving than just sitting behind the wheel. The humor of the bus drivers as they sit around the break table shows how they take all of the perceived interference by those in management in stride. This is not an expose' of the bus driving occupation. It is, however, an enjoyable and quick read that thoroughly entertains.Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free through Good Reads' "First Reads" program.

[vpfluke · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I rather like this little novel. I was a manager bus scheduling for most of my career and can understand a bus driver's perspective. I am an American and this is how English buses operate. So, there are different attitudes between Europe an North America. Over here most bus drivers drive the same trips every day and if the service is not too frequent, drivers and passengers begin to know each other. So, if a bus passes a customer by in the U.S. or Canada, a complaint might be made to the bus company with the driver's name. In Europe, drivers work duty rota, so for equality of pay between 'good' and 'bad' and lowland high paying runs there is an attempt to mix up the work to make this equality. Drivers in N.A. bid for their work by seniority and so there is no equality. But all drivers' have ingrained attitudes. Another similarity is that many of the drivers have to drive at least one rush hour and maybe even two and causing split work. So some drivers work really early shifts and some very late shifts. Almost no other worker does this, so the tendency is to have other drivers as friends, but some whom they only share who short breaks with. So the author nails a lot of the dialogue. And their are strange and/or clueless riders on both sides of the pond.

[nog_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It seems like a book about bus driving, but it's actually about the worship of false idols.Perhaps more memoir than novel, Mills uses his personal experiences to expose the futility of bureaucracies to pretend to perfection, while the minions use good, old-fashioned pragmatism to weather the storm.

[big_bang_gorilla · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novella provides a deadpan romp through the world of occupational rules and regulations as a bus driver and his mates discuss endlessly the strictures under which management makes them operate. Their minute observations concerning the times various rules are appropriate and how to evade them when they are not are familiar to most wage employees, and their encounters with the managers who enforce the rules provide a familiar spectrum of tolerable and less tolerable petty martinets. Though Mills has elsewhere taken on some bigger slices of the human experience, this is a fine look of the jobs we do.

[gingerbreadman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After a detour into a slightly more fantastical landscape for a couple of books, Mills brings it home to his trademark understated everyday absurdsim again. This slim volume, dealing with the fragile, odd construction that is the British bus system is probably way more documentary than you’d like to think. As usual, Mills has a perfect eye for the million little things that can complicate something as presumeably straightforward as taking a bus from part of a city to the other. There’s the clash between the drivers’ wish to run slightly early and the officials’ preferreance for running slightly late. There’re the sudden changes in route. There are hapless water work workers placing temporary traffic lights with badly calibrated intervals. There’s red tape, fraction making and endless theory making in the lunch room. And of course ”the maintenance of headway”, that illusive, impossible to reach principle of exactly eight minutes between each bus on a route. This is a kind of novel I don’t know of anybody but Mills being able to pull off. While Mills’ usual themes ofi ndividual, collective and corruption are all present, here he is operating on a smaller scale than ever. There’s virtually nothing in here that isn’t mundande or petty, but everything is told in great, earnest detail. The result isn’t his finest work by a long shot – but perhaps his most uncompromising yet.

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is a hoot. If you enjoy British humor, do not miss reading this short account of a bus driver’s work day. Yes, the whole book is about driving a bus. And while you might not think of that as an entertaining subject, author Magnus Mills somehow has made it seem like a fascinating business. You’ll learn why it is good for the driver to be early, but not too early. Why buses sometimes tend to group together. And that no one ever gets fired, except for Thompson. But after what he did, what else would you expect? A thoroughly enjoyable read.

[sandrabrower · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It took me a second to get into this book as it starts so abruptly. Once in though, it was like taking a bus ride through New York. Anyone who has sat on a bus knows the different types of passengers you see riding alongside you, up the rows, down the seats, but have you ever thought of the drivers? Quirky characters made up the drivers. Some hilarious, some so staunchly mundane you want to throttle them. Then throw in the inspectors/order keepers and you see a whole new world to the bus system. I base my bus ride on the NY bus system as I have never been to London. I am sure it's even crazier there with all the different driving laws. The chaos though is familiar to a NY ride.

My favorite character was Breslin and "I'll tell you why": he was timely, but didn't have his career get to his head like say, Mirk Wilson the rookie. He had the most receptive lines and you knew some crazy route change was coming when he entered the scene. You never actually have a true physical description of him, so you are free to make him any bloke you would like.

This quick read was enjoyable. Such fun.

[mailguard · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first Magnus Mills book I have read and I enjoyed it. I am sure the subject has specialist appeal but for anyone who has been a bus driver, there was plenty in the book that rang true and I could put names to several of the characters. Not side-splitting humour but had many a chuckle , but must go now or I will be late.

[clfisha · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

'There is no excuse for being early.' said Breslin'No I suppose not.''None whatsover.''No.''It is forbidden.''Yes.'Who knew that the kafkaesque bureaucracy of a bus company could by so funny or engaging?A short, yet fun and engaging story by the master of tricks. Well except this time there are no tricks, nothing wrong with that just forewarning to stave of disapointment of fans. What it does have is dry wit and dead pan humour, some great characters, wonderful observations and the ubiquitous unsettling sinister overtones. Ok there is no plot, more a series of vignettes and humourous discussions but that doesn't matter it's still engaging and everyone who has used public transport will see the ring of truth.If you haven't read Mills this may not be the best place to start, his 1st book [Restraint of Beasts] is a good as place as any though.

[dsc73277 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Humour is notoriously subjective. I am sure some readers will find this incredibly funny, personally I found it only slightly more entertaining than reading a bus timetable. Rather like Mills similar earlier novel, The Scheme for Full Employment, it just did not work for me. If you liked that, then you'll probably like this. It might also be worth pointing out that I have never got through Catch 22 either. I think those who liked Catch 22 would like Mills too.I smiled a little when it came to the chapter describing what happened when the bus authority brought in graduates with a brief to change the image of bus travel. Ultimately, however, I was pleased to terminate this particular literary bus journey.

[sanddancer_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Typical Magnus Mills' fayre, very similar to his earlier novel The Scheme for Full Employment. This time it is about the absurd routine and regulations that control a public transport system, narrated by a nameless bus driver. Not much happens but I like Mills' deadpan style and it was a short, quick read that amused me.