Babylon (Edwards-Jones series)

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The Babylon series is a series of books by British author Imogen Edwards-Jones which provide exposés of work places or industries using fictionalized characters and real incidents and stories, based either on the author's own experiences such as in Hotel Babylon, or on stories from anonymous insiders.

Hotel Babylon[edit]

Hotel Babylon
AuthorImogen Edwards-Jones
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreBiographical novel
Published2004 Bantam Press
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN0-552-15146-7 (paperback edition)
Preceded byTuscany for Beginners 
Followed byAir Babylon 

Hotel Babylon (2004) describes a fictional hour-by-hour account of life in a top London hotel over a 24-hour period. It exposes the exploits of the staff and guests alike. The BBC One series Hotel Babylon is based on this book.

Air Babylon[edit]

Air Babylon
AuthorImogen Edwards-Jones
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon-fiction, Biography
Published2005 Bantam Press
Media typePrint, Hardback
ISBN978-0-593-05456-7
Preceded byHotel Babylon 
Followed byThe Stork Club 

Air Babylon (2005) describes as "a trawl through the highs, the lows, and the rapid descents of the travel industry".[1] It combines various allegedly true incidents into a fictionalized day in the life of a duty manager at London Heathrow airport.[2] The day ends with a plane journey from London to Dubai. In October 2007 it was announced that Carnival Films had begun development on a television adaptation of the book.[3]

Fashion Babylon[edit]

Fashion Babylon
AuthorImogen Edwards-Jones
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon-fiction, Biography
Published2006 Bantam Press
Media typePrint, Hardback
ISBN0593056213
Preceded byThe Stork Club 
Followed byBeach Babylon 

Fashion Babylon (2006) explores the world of fashion. The book follows the life and times of a small fashion house based in London. Over a six-month period from the day after the house's fashion show in London to their next season, the narrator describes the journey for producing a new fashion collection.

The book was adapted for television in 2010 as Material Girl.[4]

Beach Babylon[edit]

Beach Babylon (2007) is about the beach resort industry.

Pop Babylon[edit]

Pop Babylon (2008) covers the year in the making of a boy band.

Wedding Babylon[edit]

Wedding Babylon (2009) explores the wedding industry. The book lifts the veil on the excesses of the wedding industry - the scams which inflate the prices of everything from flowers to cakes to marquee hire and the wedding disaster stories of high jinxing at the altar and disastrous low comedy in the speeches.[5][6]

It highlights how the potential for things to go horribly wrong is never higher than at a wedding and how the dream day is never far from becoming a nightmare.

Wedding Babylon follows the style of Hotel Babylon and Air Babylon. The book is published by Bantam Press.

Hospital Babylon[edit]

Hospital Babylon (2011) is about 24 hours in an Emergency Department.

Restaurant Babylon[edit]

Restaurant Babylon (2012) is about incidents from a number of top restaurants.

References[edit]

  1. ^ From Anonymous of rbooks Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine under section "Synopsis"
  2. ^ Stephen Bleach (24 July 2005). "Travel: Air Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones & Anonymous". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  3. ^ Matthew Hemley (11 October 2007). "Makers of BBC's Hotel Babylon to Adapt Airline and Fashion Exposés". The Stage News. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  4. ^ "Material Girl press pack: introduction". BBC Press Office. 10 August 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  5. ^ Karen Ann Monsy. "Review: Wedding Vows and Woes", Kaleej Times, 24 July 2009
  6. ^ Book review, Woman's Day (Australian Consolidated Press), 9/14/2009, Vol. 61 Issue 37,