The Upgrade

Paul Carr

Bored, broke and struggling to survive in one of the most expensive cities on earth, Paul Carr comes to the surprising realisation that it would actually be cheaper to live in a hotel in Manhattan than in his one-bedroom London flat. Inspired by that possibility, he decides to sell most of his possessions, abandon his old life and spend a year living entirely without commitments, as a modern-day nomad.

Thanks to Paul's highly developed blagging skills, what begins as a one-year experiment soon becomes a permanent lifestyle - a life lived in luxury hotels and mountain-top villas. A life of fast cars, Hollywood actresses and Icelandic rock stars. Of 6,000-mile booty calls, of partying with 800 female hairdressers dressed only in bedsheets, and of nearly dying at the hands of Spanish drug dealers. And, most bizarrely of all, a life that still costs less than surviving on cold pizza in London.

Yet, as word of Paul's exploits starts to spread - first online, then through a newspaper column and eventually a book deal - he finds himself forced constantly to up the stakes in order to keep things interesting. With his behaviour spiralling to dangerous - and sometimes criminal - levels, he is forced to ask the question: is there such a thing as too much freedom?>