Chris Petit (born 17 June 1949) is an English novelist and filmmaker. During the 1970s he was Film Editor for ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' and wrote in ''Melody Maker''. His first film was the cult British road movie '' Radio On'', while his 1982 film ''

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman ''An Unsuitable Job for a Woman'' is the title of a detective novel by P. D. James and of a TV series of four dramas developed from that novel. It was published by Faber and Faber in the UK in 1972 and by Charles Scribner's Sons in the US. Th ...

'' was entered into the

32nd Berlin International Film Festival The 32nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 12–23 February 1982. The Golden Bear was awarded to the West German film '' Veronika Voss'' directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The Honorary Golden Bear (''Goldener Ehrenbär ...

. His films often have a strong element of

psychogeography Psychogeography is the exploration of urban environments that emphasizes interpersonal connections to places and arbitrary routes. It was developed by members of the Letterist International and Situationist International, which were revolutio ...

, and he has worked frequently with the writer Iain Sinclair. He has also written a number of crime novels, including ''Robinson'' (1993).

Fiction

''Robinson''

''Robinson'' (1993) is a novel about a man initially working in London's

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

in a job vaguely connected with the film industry, who meets the enigmatic title character and becomes involved in alcoholic excess and pornographic film production. It was Petit's first novel coming from his earlier career as a filmmaker. Nicholas Lezard compares it to JG Ballard and Patrick Hamilton. Merlin Coverley notes that the character Cookie indicates a debt to London low-life writer Robin Cook (aka

Derek Raymond Robert William Arthur Cook (12 June 1931 – 30 July 1994), better know