Burchill has described her own style as "the writing equivalent of screaming and throwing things". For her novel "Sugar Rush" her publicist described her as "Britain's most famous and controversial journalist". One of her most consistent themes is her championing of the working-class against the middle-class in most cases, and has been particularly vocal in defending 'chavs'. According to Will Self, "Burchill's great talent as a journalist is to beautifully articulate the inarticulate sentiments and prejudices of her readers". For Michael Bywater, Burchill's "insights were, and remain, negligible, on the level of a toddler having a tantrum". John Arlidge wrote in "The Observer" in 2002: "If Burchill is famous for anything it is for being Julie Burchill, the brilliant, unpredictable, outrageously outspoken writer who has an iconoclastic, usually offensive, view on everything.