Over a hundred years before Martin Amis published Money (1984), Anthony Trollope (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Trollope) published The Way We Live Now (1875)
This is a biting satire and social commentary on the greed, dishonesty and corruption of Trollope’s day. The vices are personified in financier Augustus Melmotte. In view of our knowledge of the naked greed that brought about the financial crash of 2007/2008 I think we can justifiably say ‘plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose’.
Corruption, greed and dishonesty are so endemic that there is an organisation – Transparency International – which charts the vices. 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index: Explore the… – Transparency.org
800 pages in Wordsworth paperback edition.
ISBN 978-1853262555
Anthony Trollope