Industry | 2009.08.18
Heathrow airport hires Alain de Botton
Philosophical author begins work as airport\'s writer-in-residence
Millions of disgruntled passengers might say it is more suited to high farce than literary endeavour, but Heathrow attained cultural respectability as the author Alain de Botton made his public debut as writer-in-residence at Britain\'s largest airport.
The mind behind tomes such as The Art of Travel and How Proust Can Change Your Life is mastering the more prosaic matters of baggage handling and inflight catering as he becomes the latest artistic figure to tread the precarious line between creative independence and commerce after signing a publishing deal with the financial support of Heathrow\'s owner, BAA.
He follows in the footsteps of others such as bestselling author Fay Weldon, who in one of the most notorious sell-outs of recent times shocked the arts world in 2001 when it emerged that her latest novel had been sponsored by the Italian jewellery firm Bulgari.
De Botton says BAA has given him complete editorial freedom and access to all areas as part of a one-book publishing deal. "One of the first things I said when they offered it to me was that I should be allowed to say what I want to say," De Botton said. "If I see a cockroach coming out of the Carluccio\'s here then I should be able to write about it. BAA used to be so guarded as an organisation, but they have thrown open their doors to me."
The results of his week\'s stint at Terminal Five will be published by Profile Books next month, with BAA distributing 10,000 copies free to passengers. The airport\'s chief operating officer, Mike Brown, said: "Opening Heathrow to literary critique is a bold and adventurous step for us."
A self-confessed transport obsessive, De Botton said he hoped to "lift the lid" on how an airport works. "I love transport, I love airplanes. It is the opposite of routine, even when it goes wrong," he said. "There are not many industries where you find 20 people camped on your doorstep, like plane and trainspotters, to find out how it works. You will not find people doing that outside Tesco, saying \'look at that chicken tikka arriving.\' People are fascinated by this and I share that fascination."
While De Botton\'s last book on transport, The Art of Travel, mused on the thoughts of intellectual powerhouses such as TS Eliot, Baudelaire and Nietzsche, the Swiss author said the product of his Heathrow residency would be more journalistic than highbrow. His research so far has encompassed trips to inflight meal maker Gate Gourmet, the terminal\'s state-of-the-art baggage system, which failed spectacularly last year, and Heathrow\'s deluxe passenger lounges. Interviews with the chief executives of BAA and British Airways, Heathrow\'s biggest airline, will also feature in the book.
"This is me with my reportage hat on rather than my philosophical hat. There will be some ideas, but it will be a Nietzsche-free zone," he said. "I want it to be like those kids\' books where you see inside a Norman castle, like a cutaway. There are many places in the modern world that we do not understand because we cannot get inside them. Like nuclear power stations, there are lots of places important to the life cycle that we cannot get into."
De Botton\'s prominent position in the middle of the terminal\'s departure hall has already seen the writer-in-residence assume a more hands-on role.
"I do get asked where the toilets are. And I can answer many of the passengers\' questions," he said.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/aug/18/alain-de-botton-heathrow-airport
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