Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Meantime

By: Frankie Boyle
Narrated by: Chris Reilly
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

*FRANKIE BOYLE'S GRIPPING CRIME NOVEL: AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER *

'A dark and entertaining tranche of Glasgow noir . . . [A] deft, engaging thriller' Observer

'Full of scintillating sentences and perfect lines of dialogue' Sunday Times

_______________________________________________________________

Glasgow, 2015. When Valium addict Felix McAveety's best friend Marina is found murdered in the local park, he goes looking for answers to questions that he quickly forgets. Felix enlists the help of a brilliant but mercurial GP; a bright young trade unionist; a failing screenwriter; semi-celebrity crime novelist Jane Pickford; and his crisis fuelled downstairs neighbour Donnie.

Their investigation sends them on a bewildering expedition that takes in Scottish radical politics, Artificial Intelligence, cults, secret agents, smugglers and vegan record shops.

Meantime is a picaresque detective story set against the backdrop of post-referendum Scotland. Frankie B
oyle's compelling debut novel is a tale of murder and revenge, and of personal and political loss.

'A darkest noir, unputdownable crime novel that swerves and surprises, with a gut-punch ending. I loved it!' Denise Mina, author of The Long Drop

'Inherent vices and scalpel-sharp jokes vie with a very human concern for those least garlanded in the rat race of life' Ian Rankin

©2022 Frankie Boyle (P)2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Black Dog cover art
My Sh-t Life So Far cover art
Alan Partridge: Big Beacon cover art
O Brother cover art
From the Oasthouse: The Alan Partridge Podcast (Series 1) cover art
Surprisingly Down to Earth, and Very Funny cover art
Party Lines cover art
The Bonnie Dead cover art
Dead North cover art
Cherry Slice cover art
Suicide Thursday cover art
The Stranger Times cover art
Glue cover art
A Man with One of Those Faces cover art
Hings cover art
Laidlaw cover art

Critic reviews

"A gloriously funny mystery that bucks the 'cosy crime trend'... Peppered with one-liners, it reads Raymond Chandler in Glasgow... Boyle regularly deploys the beautifully offbeat imagery that characterises the best of his stand-up." (Telegraph)

"A surprisingly moving and beautiful journey through one man's shitshow of a friend's death / hangover." (Lucy Prebble, executive producer and writer of Succession)

What listeners say about Meantime

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    462
  • 4 Stars
    155
  • 3 Stars
    68
  • 2 Stars
    29
  • 1 Stars
    20
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    507
  • 4 Stars
    113
  • 3 Stars
    35
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    12
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    404
  • 4 Stars
    157
  • 3 Stars
    56
  • 2 Stars
    36
  • 1 Stars
    21

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

EXCELLENT.

I feel like the fact it’s written by Frankie Boyle could put people off in a time of ‘the celebrity author’. To be honest Frankie Boyle has no business being as brilliant a writer as he is. The narration is great, in the way that you don’t even think of it being narrated- it just IS the voice of the book and the characters. You’re in good hands with this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Really boring story

I’m a huge Boyle fan, I think he has a unique voice in stand up or general commentary. So I was super excited to feel that uniqueness here, and hoped that like Irvine Welsh, we could get a glimpse of that next Scottish auteur and it comes out at points, but overall this is boring, I struggled to maintain listening to it. I got 60% the way through and gave up.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Glasgow at it's best and worst!

If Rebus had stumbled into Trainspotting this would have been the result! Brilliant! Laugh out loud!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

just brilliant

oh my! Frankie Boyle is indeed a genius. I laughed and cried. He is absolutely a great (Scottish) Comedian and Writer. I will buy this, read this and perhaps even listen again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not For The Judgmental

This book is littered with bad language, drug taking and criminal activity. I loved it. The main characters are very flawed yet very likeable and I couldn’t help feeling sympathy for them; an emotion which is justified near the end, The book is well written and beautifully performed. I hope Frankie writes more.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An interesting listen!

The book kept me engaged through a mix of comedy and intrigue. To be honest I wondered where the story was going at times but the plot twists come at the right time to get you back involved!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Very Frankie.

Good to see the Glaswegian tourist board haven’t let their game slip.
Story a bit meh but the quips and writing style top class.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great voice & loved feeling back in Glasgow with the names & places I know so well

Story was a bit wild at times but I guess that’s what’s expected from Frankie Boyle

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Phenomenal.

I loved this book, especially when wondering around Glasgow listening to it. At one point the Scotia was mentioned and by chance I just happened to be right outside it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

hope there's another book on the horizon.

top class book, gripped all the way. a funny insight into a mad man's psyche.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!