Millions

Story

Brothers Damian and Anthony accidentally get caught up in a train robbery gone wrong and find themselves owners of a huge bag of money. Damian believes the cash is a gift from God and must be used for good but Anthony has other ideas. With only seventeen days until the Euro replaces the Pound they must spend it fast. End world poverty? Buy a lot of pizza? Meanwhile, the crooks who tried to rob the train are looking for their loot and closing in.

Why we chose it

Millions is both very funny and very moving. The story is seen through the eyes Damian, who has obsession with the lives of the saints, many of whom visit him as he struggles with missing his dead mother and trying to do good in the world.

Where it came from

Frank Cottrell Boyce started writing as a scriptwriter, working on Coronation Street and Brookside and writing screenplays for a number of successful films. Millions began as a screenplay for a film to be directed by Danny Boyle. Boyle encouraged Cottrell Boyce to turn it into a novel which was published before the film came out.

Where it went next

Millions won the Carnegie Medal in 2004. The film was released soon after the book was published and it was also published as a play in 2010.

Associated stories

Frank Cottrell Boyce has gone on to write a number of highly acclaimed children’s books including Framed, The Unforgotten Coat, Cosmic, The Astounding Broccoli Bay, The Runaway Robot and Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth. He has written three official sequels to Ian Fleming’s Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang series – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Over the Moon. He collaborated again with Danny Boyle in 2012 when he worked as the writer on the Summer Olympics opening ceremony.