Frank Cottrell Boyce sets Millions in an alternate version of Britain where the country adopts the euro, creating a ticking clock that drives the novel’s plot. In reality, the United Kingdom never joined the “eurozone,” the group of EU member states that have adopted the euro as their currency. When European Union members signed the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, establishing the EU and setting the process of adopting the euro into motion, Britain negotiated a formal opt-out from the single currency, preserving the pound sterling, while 12 other EU nations adopted euro banknotes and coins on January 1, 2002. The debate over whether Britain should eventually join remained politically charged throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 1997, Chancellor Gordon Brown established five economic tests that would need to be satisfied before entry, and a 2003 Treasury assessment concluded that the conditions had not been met. Public opinion polls conducted by organizations such as Ipsos MORI consistently showed a majority of British voters opposed to replacing the pound (“Latest on public attitudes to Brexit.” Ipsos, 27 Feb. 2017).

Boyce reimagines this outcome, placing Euro Day on December 17 and treating the changeover as fact. Anthony writes a school essay announcing that the pound “will be replaced by the euro” (14), and the urgency of conversion shapes every decision the boys make. The stolen money is worthless after the deadline, which is why the train carrying old sterling for incineration exists in the first place. Anthony’s observation that the money is “going out of fashion” (57) captures the novel’s central irony: The cash has value only because it is about to lose all value. By grounding his story in a recognizable national debate and then altering its outcome, Boyce transforms a real political question into a narrative device that forces his characters to confront what money actually means before time runs out.