Bring back bonkbusters!

Life is starting to look a lot like the 1980s: Russia is flexing its muscles, the Labour party is tearing itself apart, and there’s a woman in No. 10. Political thinkers are falling over themselves to over-analyse the geopolitical precipice upon which the world seems to be balanced. But life doesn’t have to be serious all the time, so it’s worth reflecting on another aspect of heading back in time: we’re due a revival of the-bonkbuster.

Frances Robinson and Camilla Swift discuss the return of the bonkbuster:

Jilly Cooper’s new book Mount! is published next month, and features the return of Rupert Campbell-Black, 30 years after he first appeared in Riders. Moneyed, charming and blond as Boris, he seduces his way through English idylls and global sporting events alike. There’s much more to Cooper’s books than the naughty bits — but it’s a good place to start.

First, given the younger generation’s apparent reluctance to make out in a maze, shag in a château or go down on the ski slope, they could do with a little inspiration. Surveys show millennials are having less sex than previous generations did at their age. Meanwhile, Edinburgh’s Fettes College has invited the internet porn expert Mary-Sharpe to address students. There is, of course, a healthier way to teach teen-agers about sex — one that preaches neither an online bacchanal nor total abstinence. Let’s give the next generation a copy of Shirley Conran’s Lace.

Bonkies aren’t just about bonking, though. Rupert Campbell-Black eventually gives up his caddish excesses to become minister for sport — as a Conservative, of course. Cooper’s books are shot through with Thatcherite politics. From the characters — Kitty Rannaldini is the perfect working-class Tory, all hard work and typing classes — to the plots.