The article deals with the role of inter-variety borrowings as a means of creating the stylistic effect in a literary text. Inter-variety borrowings are defined as borrowings from one variety of a polynational language into another. Inter-variety borrowings are analysed with reference to Americanisms in six novels by the British writer Nick Hornby: «High Fidelity» (1995), «About a Boy» (1998), «How to Be Good» (2001), «A Long Way Down» (2005), «Slam» (2007), «Juliet, Naked» (2009). The main functions of Americanisms are those of linguistic and ethnical identification, linguistic mimicry, stimulation of metalinguistic reflection, identification of the author’s point of view, and intensification of expression, social group emblem and cultural reference.