Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a novel that follows the rebellious life of twenty-two-year-old Arthur Seaton. Arthur spends his weekdays working in a bicycle factory and relaxes at weekends with lots of drinks in the company of various girlfriends. The novel was written by Alan Sillitoe who became known as one of the "angry young men". This group of writers were a dominant literary force in the 1950s and were immensely popular due to their accurate portrayal of post-war and working-class Britain. The angry youths produced a series of books (among other things) expressing their contempt for the class system, the post-war welfare state and the lack of post-war class change; the disregard of these issues is very evident throughout Sillitoe's novel. known as the “age of affluence,” which was a period characterized by high employment rates, wage increases, and increased consumer purchases. From 1951 to 1961 the average weekly income of men rose from £8.30 per week to £15.35 per week. With employment levels high and production increasing, items once unobtainable by the lower classes soon became everyday household objects. For example, televisions were rare in the early 1950s, but by the early 1960s seventy-five percent of households owned one. Sillitoe alludes to this growth in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning when Arthur states that he has seen antennas on almost every chimney in the street. The Angry Young Men were a group of writers who expressed their disdain for the government through their work. The writers were angry for various reasons, but one of them was that after the war the British government worked hard to implement the new welfare state. Legisl... middle of paper... book had to be changed for the film to be released in theaters: the termination of Brenda's pregnancy, the love scenes had to be toned down, and the violent beating of Arthur by Winnie's husband when she discovers that Arthur has been teasing her during her absences. Both the novel and the film became a success due to their accurate portrayal of the working class. Critics stated that the novel was "an exceptionally faithful picture of industrial working-class life, written from the pen of a working-class writer." Sillitoe's novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning offers a clear vision of post-war British society. The main character Arthur is a rebellious young man who lives his life doing just enough work to get by The Angry Young Men were a group of writers who emerged in the 1950s and expressed their anger towards the government and post-war life through their writings.