2nd June, 7:30pm - Jem Calder in conversation with Naomi May, I Want You To Be Happy

Backstory, 71 Balham High Rd, SW12 9AP

Jem Calder, Observer Best Debut Novelist of 2026, is joining us to celebrate the publication of I Want You To Be Happy where he will be interviewed by journalist Naomi May.

About the book:

Chuck and Joey meet in a bar. He's in his mid-thirties; she's twelve years younger. He's long abandoned his ambition of becoming a novelist and now works as a copywriter at a big ad agency.

'Lead copywriter,' he corrects himself. Joey lives paycheck to paycheck on her barista wages and privately dreams of making it as a poet. They go back to Chuck's luxury flat-a world away from Joey's cramped house-share, the crumbs in her bed.

Soon, Joey's imagining a future between them, and Chuck's moving on from a mistake in his recent past. Amazing, how meeting a new person can make you feel so new. Funny, excruciating, and true, I Want You to Be Happy is a sharp-eyed tale of two people searching for meaning and connection in modern times, missing the mark maybe, but still trying.

Tickets Available:

Ticket only - £15 (This ticket does not include a copy of the book. You can decide to buy a copy on the night, but this will be charged in addition, at the full price of the book.)

Ticket & book  (RRP £14.99) - £23 (To collect on the night.)