Kieran Devaney was born in Birmingham in 1983. He has worked as a library assistant and an academic support worker. He writes davidcameron.tumblr.com and a fake celebrity twitter account. He is writing his second novel, about a dog of infinite size, in Brighton, where he currently lives.

Deaf at Spiral Park leaves a lingering nausea familiar to anyone who has ever had a performance review. But the dark humour of the novel sustains it. Tiny flashes of joy are there though only fleetingly, the shafts of sunlight on a pavement, a minor victory for someone on the ‘shitlist’ (only called on for the worst of jobs), and an ‘impossibly moving’ moment for the bear at a concert. All soon swallowed up, but some moments to hold on to.Perhaps what is most telling is that I read Deaf at Spiral Park on a long commute either side of a day’s work that at times felt like just another surreal episode in the novel.

• Deaf at Spiral Park