For pretty much my whole adult life,” he said, “I’ve been on my way somewhere, or on my way back.
-- The Man on the Plane (chapter 1)

Importance: Many of the people who Faye meets in Kudos are nomads, who travel across great geographical distances according to the dictates of their careers. This is true of Faye herself: the reader encounters her outside of her native element, traveling from one literary festival to the next. This quote reveals a degree of kinship between Faye and her neighbor on the plane—and, by extension, reveals the degree to which her work as a novelist has been altered by the demands of the contemporary economy. It’s also a significant quote given that it foreshadows the structure of the novel: the conversations Faye has with acquaintances and strangers throughout the book are often staged in transit, as characters are on their way to something, or on their way...