Billy Liar on the Moon is a 1975 comedy novel by the British writer Keith Waterhouse. It serves as a sequel to Waterhouse’s 1959 novel Billy Liar, continuing the story of the protagonist Billy Fisher.
Publication
- Author: Keith Waterhouse
- Country: United Kingdom
- Language: English
- Genre: Comedy novel
- Publisher: Michael Joseph
- Release date: 1975
- Media type: Print
Synopsis
The novel follows Billy Fisher, now aged 33, living in the fictional Midlands town of Shepford, situated south of Birmingham near the M1 motorway. Employed in the Information and Publicity Department of Shepford District Council, Billy is tasked with promoting the town’s redevelopment projects, including the production of a guidebook titled Pageantry with Progress. He resides in a 12th‑floor flat on the Fairways estate with his wife Jeanette and his widowed mother.
Billy’s personal life is marked by marital strain and an extramarital affair with Helen Lightfoot, a married woman. His professional ambitions are complicated by the heavy drinking and impending retirement of his superior, Reggie “Pisspot” Rainbell, whose position Billy hopes to inherit. Meanwhile, Billy maintains an elaborate inner fantasy life, conversing with an alter‑ego—a wisecracking American named Oscar.
The narrative details Billy’s attempts to conceal his affair, including falsifying expense claims and inventing a theft of golf clubs. A police investigation led by Detective Constable Jack Carpenter uncovers further complications, while a rival council employee, James Purchase, probes Billy’s expense claims. The story culminates in a chaotic town festival, the exposure of corruption among local councillors, and Billy’s eventual demotion to a lower‑status job in the Rates Office. The novel concludes with Jeanette’s pregnancy announcement and Billy’s reluctant decision to take out a mortgage for a bungalow.
Reception and Legacy
Billy Liar on the Moon has been described as a “comic masterpiece” that extends the satirical examination of middle‑class British life and municipal bureaucracy introduced in its predecessor. The novel has been reissued by Valancourt Books as part of its 20th‑Century Classics series and has been referenced in literary surveys of twentieth‑century British novelists.