Eurotrash by Christian Kracht

 They are different, the superwealthy.  The ones who can charter a private plane at a moment's notice when the commercial schedules don't suit.  The ones who can eat at a restaurant no matter the time or if it is open for business.  The ones who think nothing of giving a taxi driver thousands of dollars for a ride.  The ones who made their money through the suffering of others.

Christian has come home to take care of his mother.  She is eighty and recently released from a psychiatric hospital, a common occurrence he is used to.  They go on a last trip together in Switzerland which is their home country, visiting the mountains and places from long ago.  His mother is also physically challenged and Christian helps her with her issues.

But the two are not close.  His mother pretty much ignored him as a child, especially after his parents divorced when he was young.  He rarely comes home and despises the money they have and the munitions industry that gave it to them.  He is searching for a way to reconcile his life, and this is another attempt.

Christian Kracht is a German author and this is his second novel.  It was nominated for the International Booker and considered a Best Book by the Financial Times and the UK Times.  Kracht explores the dynamics of a life where nothing is required of the individual; there is so much money that they need not work and can have anything they want.  But the human relationships have suffered and he narrates a last chance to resolve the most primal relationship, that of parent and child.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.