The Trader – Interview with Rupert Morgan

What gave you the idea of The Trader?

Since the financial crash of 2008, I have been surprised at how little social protest there has been. In previous generations, I think that there would have been popular revolt at the inequality evident in today’s society and the fact that bankers escaped their share of responsibility for the crash ‒ and continue paying themselves fantastical sums of money while everyone else is suffering. It seemed to me that, faced with the impotence of our political leaders, it would not be very surprising if a small band of people, or an individual, decided to act exert a kind of vigilante justice ‒ or terrorism, if you prefer.

Why do you think there has been no revolt?

Partly, it is because we live in post-political times, but mainly I think it is because, consciously or not, we are all implicated. The two things are really one thing ‒ the economic policies that created today’s catastrophic situation have also, over the last 30 years, delivered a good quality of life for the vast majority of people and that has de-politicised society. We have not revolted because our principal desire is not to see the super-rich punished, but to maintain our own status quo, if possible!

Unlike in the book, where there are riots all over London!

Well, that did happen, if you remember ‒ there was an incredible period of three days in the summer of 2011 when anarchy erupted in London and the police were totally unable to control the situation. The terrifying thing about those riots was that they were completely a-political ‒ it was just about people wanting to steal stuff from shops. A year or two later the London riots have been largely forgotten thanks to things like the Olympics, but I worry that they were a portent of the future. The moral foundations of society are not that solid and we need to think seriously about the implications of that.

Does the book have any suggestions for what we should do?

No, I don’t think so! Sometimes, as a writer, you don’t decide what you want to write. There is something on your mind and you have to find out what it is by writing the story, even if you don’t know where you are going with it. For me, the message of the story is that there is a very, very real danger of us going down the path of the early 20th century that ultimately resulted in World War 2 and the Holocaust. History never repeats itself exactly, of course, but it echoes over and over again. I would say that these are dangerous times for anyone who is an immigrant ‒ which I am myself, even if I am not subject to the kinds of prejudice that touch those who are not white Europeans.

How do you organise your working day as a writer?

If I’m serious about writing a story, then there is only one method that works for me ‒ I have to get into a routine of writing every day, without fail, at exactly the same time and not leaving my desk until I have produced at least 500 words of fiction. Like a lot of writers, I find that the best time is first thing in the morning ‒ I used to get up to write at 4.30 every day, but these days it is more usually six in the morning!