The most insipid and despicable characters in any work of fiction

Is there or could there ever be a series of novels with more insipid and despicable characters than Edward St. Aubyn's Patrick Melrose series? I wouldn't even bother with these novels, the characters are so unlikable, except that, I have to admit, the writing is extremely sharp and funny - both in the larger scheme of the stories (scenes of humiliation and abnegation such as the French ambassador splashing venison sauce on Princess Margaret's dress and being commanded to get on his knees and clean the spots with his dinner napkin) and, more tellingly, one hilarious turn of phrase after another: I am not a snob - I am friends w/ everyone from her majesty right down to the lowliest baronet (paraphrased). The wit is enough to keep me reading, but really these are just awful people - not a single one of them (possible exception Patrick's friend Johnny?) has contributed anything to the world, has any interest or passion other than his or her own self-interest, are cruel to one another, are completely mean and nasty to anyone they consider to be "below" them, have done nothing to earn or merit their so-called social status. Of course it's a dying class - the amazing thing is that it has endured for so long, with all the fucking simpering Brits who worship royalty and heraldry. One would hope that the series of novels would involve some growth or evolution at least on the part of Patrick, that he would come to see the disaster of his life and of his class - but so far he has not been able to do so, he's every bit as unpleasant as his much-loathed father. As noted previously these books are often compared with Proust, but Proust's narrator has a wide range of interests and ideas and he evolves over the course of the work, gradually coming to understand the horrors of his class and the cruelty of the those who pose as genteel, who think they're better than others by birth and manners. Note that yesterday I said the 3rd vol appears to be set in about 2000, but I should have said 1995 (Patrick is now 30).