The Final Programme introduces one of Michael Moorcock’s most enduring creations: the multifaceted Jeremiah "Jerry" Cornelius. These adventures were first published in New Worlds magazine; others would follow (see the other volumes in The Cornelius Quartet / The Cornelius Chronicles and elsewhere). But Moorcock also freed his malleable character for others to use, and so there are numerous variations on the Jerry Cornelius theme. 

          The Final Programme is, however, where it all began — a curious beginning, actually, given its finality. It is a fun little adventure. The world portrayed in The Final Programme is almost like the real one, with only a few added dystopian wrinkles. "An odd kind of limbo", one of the characters says of contemporary life in the novel: "Society hovers on the point of collapse, eh ? Chaos threatens." But then it almost always does. 

          Jerry Cornelius is a man of many talents, and some of these talents are needed for a particular project. He must lead an expedition to infiltrate his father’s old house (a "fake Le Corbusier château" in Normandy), where his evil brother Frank is holed up with some data of critical importance. Only Jerry can navigate through the booby-traps and defenses. The "hallucinatory protective devices" (LSD gas and the like) aren’t enough to stop Jerry and his expedition, but it isn’t a complete success: Jerry can’t save his sister and great love, Catherine, and he doesn’t emerge unscathed either. 

          Work on the project — led by a Miss Brunner — does, however, continue apace, and Jerry’s services are eventually required again. What is it they are working on? DUEL.