"Youth" is a semi-autobiographical novel by South African author J.M. Coetzee, recounting his struggles in 1960s London after fleeing the political unrest of Cape Town. The story begins with the narrator, a young Coetzee, living in Mowbray and studying at the University of Cape Town. After graduating in mathematics and English, and in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre, he moves to London in the hope of becoming a poet and finding the woman of his dreams. However, he finds neither inspiration nor fulfillment, instead taking up a tedious job as a computer programmer working for IBM. He feels alienated from the natives and never settles down, always aware of the scorn they see him with. He engages in a series of unfulfilling affairs and scorns people's inability to see his inner "flame" that he believes would allow his artistry to flourish. By the end of the book, he is working for International Computers on the Atlas project.

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