Pace, you ARE in a minority of one. I have also flown through that airspace more times than I care to count. It is quite clear that ATC was a tad busy that day. They are NOT required to check whether a pilot is feeling well, is missing his teddybear, to ask him whether he knows what a flight level is (it's in the syllabus so he bl00dy well SHOULD know).
IF the posts on here are genuinely from Biggles, then the guy has no business ever getting in an aircraft again. Were I in Enforcement Branch of the Campaign, I would recommend pulling his licence (based on what has been posted here). He might still save his skin if he tells them it wasn't him posting here, he wouldn't say anything like that, he made several very silly mistakes during the flight in a state of panic and confusion, and he's very, very sorry and he most certainly will never do anything like that ever again. But that's about his only hope.
PS ATPL/FI, Flight Safety Officer and former AFISO.