Loaded is the first novel by Australian writer Christos Tsiolkas.[1] It was first published in 1995,[2] and was adapted into the 1998 film Head On.
The novel describes twenty-four hours in the life of Ari, an angst-ridden, young, gay Greek Australian.[1] Ari travels across the city of Melbourne, Australia, taking speed, cocaine and marijuana whenever presented to him.[3] He is uncomfortable with his homosexuality; he favours hook-ups with anonymous, masculine suitors who debase or demean their own homosexuality; and he is regularly at odds with friends as well as family.
When Tsiolkas submitted the manuscript of Loaded to an independent publisher, it was rejected as "racist and homophobic".[4]
Loaded was adapted as an audio play by the Malthouse Theatre company in 2020.[5] A stage adaptation of the novel premiered on 5 May 2023 at the Malthouse Theatre. [6]