The Buddha of Suburbia

Charlie is Eva's son and Karim's crush and idol as a teen. Charlie is a year older than Karim and is described as being exceptionally handsome. However, Karim soon learns that despite Charlie's charm and good looks, he's cruel. He never returns Karim's affections, even after their sexual experience together, and he throws Karim into his drum set and makes him bleed. As Dad and Eva's relationship strengthens, Charlie drops out of school. Karim begins to realize that Charlie is charming but not necessarily a good musician. As Charlie spirals from his lack of success, he steals from Eva and from Karim. Eva ignores his thefts, but Karim resents Charlie for stealing all of his shirts. When Charlie and Karim go to a pub and see a punk band perform, Charlie has an epiphany. Though he and Karim mock the punks at first, Charlie wholeheartedly embraces the aesthetic and sentiment of the punks and very quickly becomes famous. His first album is very successful, and Karim even hears Matthew Pyke's son playing it five years after its release. The press often asks Eva for interviews about Charlie. Near the end of the novel, Charlie moves to New York. He finds New York refreshing and thinks that London is dirty and stagnated. In New York, Charlie also comes to the realization that he's not a great musician. He realizes he's good, but he doesn't have the innovation necessary to be truly great. Despite this, Charlie lives a wealthy life in New York and employs Karim for a while. Karim realizes he doesn't love or care about Charlie anymore when Charlie hires a dominatrix to humiliate him and invites Karim to participate. Karim watches with interest, but returns to London days later and doesn't look back.