A Start in Life is a 1970 picaresque novel by the British writer Alan Sillitoe.Hanson p.45 It was followed by a sequel Life Goes On in 1985.Hanson p.46

Synopsis Michael Cullen abandons his pregnant girlfriend in Nottingham and heads south to London where he becomes mixed-up with a smuggling racket. Eventually caught and sent to prison, he eventually decides to return to a quiet life in the provinces.

References

Bibliography Gillian Mary Hanson. Understanding Alan Sillitoe. University of South Carolina Press, 1999