London developed become a major international financial and commercial center starting in the 1980s, particularly as a result of Thatcher's deregulation and free-market growth policies. Digital shopping, international brands, and credit culture have all changed consumer behavior in the UK. In response, British literature examined issues of identity, globalization, and excessive consumption. While modern authors like Zadie Smith emphasize how spending affects class, race, and identity in contemporary Britain, Martin Amis's Money parodied the avarice of the 1980s.

Britain saw a significant consumer boom following World War II, particularly in newly constructed suburbs. Everyday living was changed by mass-produced vehicles, televisions, gadgets, and rising incomes. Adolescents emerged as a new target market, impacting advertising, music, and fashion. This cultural transformation is reflected in the literature of the time, with authors like Kingsley Amis discussing material comfort, social mobility, and the problems of living in a society that was becoming more and more consumed.

London's West End had developed into a hub for department stores, commercial entertainment, and brand advertising by the 1930s. Customers were urged to define themselves through their purchases by posters, billboards, and window displays. A culture where identities were increasingly formed by consumer choices was brought about by this increase in advertising. These changes were mirrored in British literature: modernist authors like Virginia Woolf examined how mass culture affected individual consciousness, while Aldous Huxley's Brave New World depicted a dystopia based on consumption.

The Great Exhibition was a spectacular display of manufactured goods, innovative technology, and international commodities from the British Empire that took place in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park. It represented Britain's pride in its industrial might and expanding consumerism. Millions of tourists came to see technologies, machinery, and textiles that symbolized contemporary affluence. The spectacle captivated Victorian writers; some, like Thomas Carlyle, condemned the celebration of materialism, while others, like Elizabeth Gaskell, recognized the possibility for advancement.

Early in the nineteenth century, London emerged as Britain's publishing hub, drawing printers, periodical writers, and booksellers. Serialized literature and magazines made reading a popular pastime as literacy rates increased and printing became more affordable. Working-class and middle-class readers may buy literature in small portions because stories were sold on a weekly or monthly basis at reasonable costs. This thriving consumer market served as the foundation for Charles Dickens' career.