Complicated Lives examines the greatest conundrum of the modern world: why, despite being richer, healthier and more empowered than ever before, do we continue to feel threatened, under pressure and stressed? There's no denying that we've never had it so good, yet the stark truth is that levels of happiness are unchanged since the 1950s. Offering strategies and insights for avoiding 'the malaise of modernity' whilst exploiting positive experiences the 21st century has to offer, Michael Willmott and William Nelson take readers on a journey of self-discovery into the realities of life in today's complex, multi-channel world.

"...one of the best business books I have read in the past decade..." (Marketing Direct, Dec 05)

Michael Willmott is co-founder of the Future Foundation, a consumer think-tank that advises organisations on emerging customer needs. He has 25 years experience as a researcher, analyst and forecaster and is a regular writer, presenter and media commentator on social, economic, political and technological change and its implications for business, government and society. His book Citizen Brands, recently published by John Wiley and Sons, deals with the dynamics of the relationship between companies and society and the implications for branding.

William Nelson is Analysis Manager for nVision, the Future Foundation’s online social and consumer trends and forecasting service. In recent years, he has managed research projects for a number of major clients including a three-year programme of research for retail bank Abbey National on the subject of life’s complications. He is Editor of practioner papers for the Journal of Consumer Behaviour.