Alex (A Clockwork Orange) Alex (A Clockwork Orange) Alex is a fictional character in Anthony Burgess' novel "A Clockwork Orange" and Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of the same name, in which he is played by Malcolm McDowell. In the film, his surname is DeLarge, a reference to Alex calling himself The Large in the novel. In the film, however, two newspaper articles print his name as "Alex Burgess". In addition to the book and film, Alex was portrayed by Vanessa Claire Smith in the ARK Theatre Company's multi-media adaptation of "A Clockwork Orange", directed by Brad Mays. Alex is the narrator, protagonist and antihero
A Clockwork Orange (novel) Kubrick's opinion—as in the opinion of other readers, including the original American editor—the final chapter was unconvincing and inconsistent with the book. "A Clockwork Orange" was written in Hove, then a senescent seaside town. Burgess had arrived back in Britain after his stint abroad to see that much had changed. A youth culture had grown, including coffee bars, pop music and teenage gangs. England was gripped by fears over juvenile delinquency. Burgess claimed that the novel's inspiration was his first wife Lynne's beating by a gang of drunk American servicemen stationed in England during World War II. She subsequently miscarried.