Nottingham people have fallen in a big way for the new book which features their own city, "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" by local author Alan Sillitoe.

A spokesman at Nottingham City Library told me that they had bought a "saturation" number of copies, anticipating a big demand, and these were in constant demand.

"It is the most constantly popular book we have," he said. "But it became well known among readers gradually. The film company operating on the story in the city stimulated a lot of interest."

There has been a waiting list in some branch libraries, but the book surprisingly has not been more in demand at Radford where the story is set than at other centres.

Library staff have been told by a number of people about the author: "Ah yes, I remember young Alan as a lad."

The library spokesman reported that the novels by Nottingham High Pavement School English master Stanley Middleton were not having the same impact on readers as Sillitoe's work.

And "Eating People is Wrong" by Nottingham's Malcolm Bradbury, now in America and contributing to Punch, was lower in the local popularity stakes.

This was current taste, which might swing at any time.