In what year does the novel, Very Recent History, take place?

The novel's sub-title suggests that it is set in the year 2009, while several textual references throughout the book refer to a major financial crisis that took place the year before. Following the author's general practice of not naming specific elements (i.e. the City, the Mayor) even though they are easily identifiable, the crisis referred to in the book can be recognized as the real-life crisis that upset the world's financial stability, and particularly that of the City (a center for worldwide economic activity), in 2008. This, in turn, means that setting the book's action in 2009 places it in the middle of the aftermath of, or recovery from, what amounts to a financial disaster.