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William Burroughs: Nova Express

Apparently, when he had finished Naked Lunch, Burroughs had a mass of pages left over and he used these to make some of his other earlier novels, including this one. If there is a plot it is about the war between the Nova Mob, a gang of aliens that has controlled human beings using viral infections, and the Nova Police who can travel through time and who fight the Nova Police. Inspector Lee of the Nova Police, whom we have met in previous books and who is based on Burroughs himself, is on the case to stop the Nova Mob. Once again strange beings, drug addiction, cut-ups and not entirely rational plot threads permeate this novel. That Burroughs is making a point – control by the force of authority is bad – is clear and we can only sympathise with this view – but I am not convinced that it makes for great literature.

Publishing history

First published 1964 by Grove Press