Sci-fi dystopian book about a boy who rides a motorcycle [duplicate]

Question

I have vague memories of reading this book in the mid 1990's. It centers about a boy selected to work with a super computer overlord kinda thing. I think there are aircraft that monitor thought. And I think the boy escapes at night on a futuristic motorbike? Any ideas? Thanks

Answer 1

This is Futuretrack 5 by Robert Westall.

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I can't exactly remember some terms, which are indicated ?thus below:

"a boy selected to work with a super computer overlord kinda thing."

The protagonist scores 100% on his school-leaving exam, and is thus

enrolled as a ?Tech, the elite cadre of personnel who administer society

"I think there are aircraft that monitor thought."

In one of the earliest scenes in the book, the protagonist is seen directing negative thoughts at the ?psycopters in flight around ?the Isle of Wight, where his school is situated.

"I think the boy escapes at night on a futuristic motorbike?"

The protagonist has as a gift from his father a British-made motorcycle, his father having said to him something like

"you're not riding one of those Jap-crap machines designed to kill you"

The story is set in a dystopian future UK, where everyone ends up on one of four possible life-paths (the 'Futuretracks' of the title); through his actions and chance events, the protagonist ends up on a fifth, completely unexpected and unplanned-for by the dystopia's organisers, future path.