Of Love and Hunger by Julian Maclaren-Ross.
The life and loves of a hard-up vacuum cleaner salesman in Bognor Regis in 1939.
Not a particularly well known writer these days but was a major figure in post-war literary London, famous for his "bohemian" lifestyle. I came to him via Anthony Powell's A Dance To The Music Of Time series of novels, in which he features as the character X.Trapnel.
And he can write. Oh yes, he can.
He's what I'd call a reader's writer - the pleasure of reading him is in savouring his fluent, accessible, authentically vernacular prose style. He's funny, astute, doesn't over-egg it, and says a lot in relatively few words.
Reminds me in many ways of Patrick Hamilton, George Orwell and Colin Macinnes. The voice reading it aloud in my head is Bill Nighy.