With one or two exceptions, British postmodernism came late, but it showed remarkable staying power. Not less remarkable is the fact that it never was very postmodern. Although it freely uses the postmodern techniques and strategies that we are familiar with, it avoids the narcissistic self-referentiality, the play for the sake of play, the radical relativism, the so-called decentring of the individual, and other vices that postmodernism has often been accused of. Its play with the conventions of realism is affectionate rather than hostile and betrays a compassionate interest in the individual and in larger social concerns rather than an affinity with postmodern theory. The argument draws on both early and recent postmodern fiction by writers such as Graham Swift, Julian Barnes, Martin Amis, Nicola Barker and David Mitchell.