History of crime fiction quite complicated, forcing him to embark on an odyssey through the urban landscape. He is involved with organized crime and other lowlifes on the "mean streets" of, preferably, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, or Chicago. A hard-boiled private eye has an ambivalent attitude towards the police. It is his ambition to save America and rid it of its mean elements all by himself. As Raymond Chandler's protagonist Philip Marlowe—immortalized by actor Humphrey Bogart in the movie adaptation (1946) of the novel "The Big Sleep" (1939)—admits to his client, General Sternwood, he finds it rather tiresome, as an individualist, to
The Sense of an Ending ever read." On 18 October 2011, "The Sense of an Ending" was awarded the Man Booker Prize. Head judge, Stella Rimington described the novel as "exquisitely written, subtly plotted and reveals new depths with each reading". She added "We thought it was a book that spoke to the humankind in the 21st Century." On 15 November 2011, it was announced "The Sense of an Ending" had been nominated in the Best Novel category at the 2011 Costa Book Awards, though the book lost out to Andrew Miller's novel, "Pure". A film adaptation of the same name made its world premiere