Sam Byers – författare

Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel award 2013, this bitterly humorous debut is a novel of love, narcissism, and ailing cattle.Katherine has given up trying to be happy. Her cynical wit repels the people she wants to attract, and attracts the people she knows she should repel. Her ex Daniel, meanwhile, isn’t sure that he loves his new girlfriend. But somehow not telling her he loves her has become synonymous with telling her that he doesn’t love her, meaning that he has to tell her he loves her just to maintain the status quo.When their former friend Nathan returns from a stint in a psychiatric ward to find that his mother has transformed herself into bestselling author and Twitter sensation `Mother Courage’ – Katherine, Daniel and Nathan decide to meet to heal old wounds. But will a reunion end well? Almost certainly not.Both scathing invective on a self-obsessed generation and moving account of love and loneliness, `Idiopathy’ skewers everything from militant environmentalists to self-help quackery and announces the arrival of a savagely funny talent.

Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel award 2013, this bitterly humorous debut is a novel of love, narcissism, and ailing cattle.Katherine and Daniel used to be together. Now Katherine hates everyone, but not as much as she hates herself, while Daniel tells his new girlfriend he loves her, because not telling her would be like telling her he doesn’t love her.From out of the blue comes a message from their old friend, rehabilitated party animal Nathan – now adjusting to his mother’s new career as a misery memoirist, her tales of maternal hardships the stuff of Twitter superstardom.Nathan suggests a reunion, but with the bad blood flowing like cheap wine, it can’t end well. As a bovine plague sweeps across the nation, a toxic dinner party gets underway – its atmosphere so poisonous that none of them will escape infection …

Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel award 2013, this bitterly humorous debut is a novel of love, narcissism, and ailing cattle.Katherine has given up trying to be happy. Her cynical wit repels the people she wants to attract, and attracts the people she knows she should repel. Her ex Daniel, meanwhile, isn’t sure that he loves his new girlfriend. But somehow not telling her he loves her has become synonymous with telling her that he doesn’t love her, meaning that he has to tell her he loves her just to maintain the status quo.When their former friend Nathan returns from a stint in a psychiatric ward to find that his mother has transformed herself into bestselling author and Twitter sensation ‘Mother Courage’ – Katherine, Daniel and Nathan decide to meet to heal old wounds. But will a reunion end well? Almost certainly not.Both scathing invective on a self-obsessed generation and moving account of love and loneliness, ‘Idiopathy’ skewers everything from militant environmentalists to self-help quackery and announces the arrival of a savagely funny talent.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ENCORE PRIZE 2019LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2019LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2019In Edmundsbury, a small town in eastern England, fear and loathing are on the rise. Brexit has happened and the ramifications are real. Grass-roots, right-wing political party 'England Always' is fomenting hatred. The residents of a failing housing estate are being cleared from their homes. A multinational tech company is making inroads into the infrastructure. A controversial tweet; a series of ill-judged think pieces; a riot of opinions - suddenly Edmundsbury is no longer the peaceful town it had always imagined itself to be.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ENCORE PRIZE 2019LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2019LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2019In Edmundsbury, a small town in east England, fear and loathing are on the rise. It is the near future; Brexit has happened and the ramifications are real. Grass-roots right-wing political party 'England Always' are fomenting hatred. The residents of a failing housing estate are being manipulatively cleared from their homes. A multinational tech company is making inroads into the infrastructure. Just as social tensions appear to reach crisis point, masked men begin a series of 'disruptions', threatening to make internet histories public, asking the townspeople 'what don't you want to share?'

Why be healthy when the world is so sick? From the author of Perfidious Albion, a darkly comic and profoundly affecting novel about resistance, radicalism and redemption.'Bold, unflinching. exceptional.' Observer'Unforgettable...' Times Literary Supplement'Outstanding...' Irish Times'Enthralling. a blistering critique of 21st century life.' Financial Times'Byers's mastery of tone and attentiveness to every psychological shift confirms him as one of the most accomplished novelists of his generation.' Sunday Times

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2021* 'Exceptional...' Observer * 'Unforgettable...' TLS * 'Outstanding...' Irish Times *'Sam Byers's mastery of tone and attentiveness to every psychological shift confirms him as one of the most accomplished novelists of his generation.' Sunday TimesThe new novel from the author of Perfidious Albion-a darkly comic and profoundly affecting novel about resistance, radicalism and redemption.Maya is homeless. When her site is razed by ruthless authorities, she's detained. But then, Maya is given a lifeline; a chance to re-enter society again. A tech company - angling to raise its philanthropic profile - offers her a job and a flat. There's one caveat: Maya must document her inspiring progress on Instagram to show that anyone can be productive; perfect.Yet Maya realises that sickness is a kind of revolution. With other outcasts, Maya starts a movement: billboards promoting wellness are defaced all over London and her media feed is flooded with obscene, filthy images. Suddenly, questions arise about the forces unleashed: liberation and madness, protest and anarchy, rebellion and chaos.