Like any society the UK has its share of people who feel marginalised, people who are shut out, or opt out, from the mainstream. The following works approach this rich literary seam from a variety of angles: Jennifer Johnston examines the lives of the lonely, Niall Griffiths and Courttia Newland look at being young and at odds with society, while Leila Aboulela and Alex Wheatle probe the sensitive issue of race.

Aboulela, Leila Coloured Lights

Polygon, 2001, £8.99, ISBN 0-7486-6298-7, pbk

A collection of short stories that examines the emotional intricacies of young people from a range of backgrounds. Set in London, Scotland and Sudan, the stories explore the feelings of those caught between two worlds and attempting to feel at home in different cultures.

Al-Shaykh, Hanan Only in London

Bloomsbury, 2001, £16.99, ISBN 0-7475-5304-1, hbk

Translated from Arabic by Catherine Cobham.

London-based Lebanese author Hanan Al-Shaykh offers a refreshing window into the hidden Arab culture thriving in the heart of the capital. The novel concentrates on four characters over one hot summer as they weave in and out of each other's lives.

Bandele, Biyi The Street

Picador, 1999, £10.00, ISBN 0-330-37538-5, pbk
Picador, 2000, £6.99, ISBN 0-330-37539-3, pbk

Set in a multicultural community, The Street is the story of Nehushta and her relationship with her father, who has just awakened from a fifteen-year coma. With a lively and engaging mix of characters, The Street is a witty take on contemporary British life.

Broady, Bill In This Block There Lives a Slag and Other Yorkshire Fables

Flamingo, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-00-655198-X, pbk

In this collection of short stories, Broady presents his readers with a bizarre yet credible world that is both grotesque and comic. The twelve narrators take us into the everyday mayhem of their lives on a Bradford council estate, and in and out of pubs and the dole queue.

Faber, Michel Under the Skin

Canongate Books, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 1-84195-094-7, pbk

Dutch by birth and Australian by upbringing, Michel Faber now lives in Scotland. Under the Skin is the macabre and disturbing story of a woman's obsession with picking up male hitchhikers, drawing them into an unexpected and terrifying world. It was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award in 2000. The Guardian said, 'Room will now have to be made for Faber alongside Alasdair Gray, James Kelman, Irvine Welsh and A. L. Kennedy.'

Graham, Laurie Dog Days, Glenn Miller Nights

Black Swan, 2000, £6.99, ISBN 0-552-99759-5, pbk

Perfectly capturing life on a grim high-rise council estate, Graham introduces us to Bridie Gibbs, living on chocolate and musing on her various marriages. The novel is equal parts comedy and tragedy, with vivid characters and an eccentric plot.

Griffiths, Niall Sheepshagger

Jonathan Cape, 2001, £10.00, ISBN 0-224-06105-4, pbk
Vintage, 2002, £6.99, ISBN 0-09-928518-5, pbk

Written in tough narrative prose, this is a coming-of-age novel about a group of young Welsh people growing up in a rural idyll an environment at odds with their habits of drug-taking and promiscuity. The novel contains rich and vivid dialogue and presents a vibrant portrait of contemporary Welsh life.

Johnston, Jennifer The Gingerbread Woman

Headline, 2000, £14.99, ISBN 0-7472-2137-5, hbk
Headline, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-7472-5933-X, pbk

An encounter between two lonely and unconventional people attempting to come to terms with their individual tragedies leads them into a delicate friendship. The gradual unwrapping of their secrets becomes a meditation on loss and recovery.

Kennedy, A. L. Everything You Need

Jonathan Cape, 1999, £16.99, ISBN 0-224-04433-8, hbk
Vintage, 2000, £6.99, ISBN 0-09-973061-8, pbk

This is the story of Nathan Staples, a burnt-out novelist who uses subterfuge to invite his estranged and unsuspecting daughter to the writers' colony in which he lives. Unaware that she is even related to Nathan, Mary is drawn into the claustrophobic and intense relationships between her father and the other members of the colony.

King, John White Trash

Jonathan Cape, 2001, £10.00, ISBN 0-224-06049-X, pbk
Vintage, 2002, £6.99, ISBN 0-09-928306-9, pbk

When Ruby James, an unconventional and rebellious teenager, falls in with the 'wrong crowd' she soon learns that the world is only too keen to judge people on appearances. White Trash is an intelligent study of the way society stereotypes those who live on the margins.

Kureishi, Hanif Midnight All Day

Faber & Faber, 2000, £6.99, ISBN 0-571-20391-4, pbk

A cynical and at times dry collection of short stories that all deal, in some way, with our notions of sex and relationships. As in much of his recent writing, Kureishi is concerned with the self-destructive and obsessive aspects of love, but his control of language and character are as strong as ever.

Newland, Courttia Society Within

Abacus, 2000, £6.99, ISBN 0-349-11180-4, pbk

Like Newland's first novel, The Scholar, these linked short stories are set on the Greenside Estate in west London. Revisiting, too, some of the characters from The Scholar, this is a convincing collection of inspirational, funny and tragic stories sensitively exploring issues around race.

Noon, Jeff Needle in the Groove

Black Swan, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-552-99919-9, pbk

Manchester, the near future. Bass player Elliot Hill is treading water on the pub circuit until one day he is invited to join a new band that fuses DJ artistry, voice and rhythm, producing a startling new recording technology. Inspired by the sampling and sound manipulation of contemporary music, Noon experiments with language to create a lively, original work.

Roy, Jacqueline The Fat Lady Sings

Women's Press, 2000, £9.99, ISBN 0-7043-4647-8, pbk
Women's Press, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-7043-4711-3, pbk

An examination of the mental health system and those lost within it. Gloria and Merle have been institutionalised after being diagnosed as insane, but through a reassessment of their lives they begin to understand the failures of the system and the damage that psychiatric care can do.

Wheatle, Alex East of Acre Lane

Fourth Estate, 2001, £10.00, ISBN 1-84115-427-X, pbk
Fourth Estate, 2002, £6.99, ISBN 1-84115-440-7, pbk

Set against the backdrop of the 1981 Brixton race riots, East of Acre Lane tells the story of Biscuit, a young black man attempting to sort his life out at a difficult time personally and politically.

Williams, John Cardiff Dead

Bloomsbury, 2000, £9.99, ISBN 0-7475-4997-4, pbk
Bloomsbury, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-7475-5390-4, pbk

Williams portrays a Cardiff made up of bizarre characters and lost souls held together by a vibrant music scene. 'Williams's writing animates the city in much the same way Nicholas Blincoe managed with his Manchester novels, and Armistead Maupin with his tales of San Francisco.' Time Out