Kill Your Friends: A Novel (Paperback)
January 2009 Indie Next List
“This story of an A&R rep for a British music label is not for the faint of heart, or those who want to believe that pop music and hit records come out of some happy bubblegum land. But if you are a fan of Irvine Welsh, Bret Easton Ellis, or Chad Kultgen, this is a perfect book -- at times shocking, it will keep a guilty smile on your face.”
— Joe Eichman, Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver, CO
Description
AS the twentieth century breathes its very last, with Britpop at its zenith, twenty-seven-year-old A&R man Steven Stelfox is slashing and burning his way through London’s music industry. Blithely crisscrossing the globe in search of the next megahit—fueled by greed and inhuman quantities of cocaine—Stelfox freely indulges in an unending orgy of self-gratification. But the industry is changing fast and the hits are drying up, and the only way he’s going to salvage his sagging career is by taking the idea of “cutthroat” to murderous new levels.
About the Author
John Niven was born in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland. He has written for The Times (London), The Independent, Word, and FHM, among others. He is the author of the novella Music from Big Pink and the novel Kill Your Friends.
Praise For…
“I loved Kill Your Friends. Who didn’t? Scorched earth humor at its finest.” — Douglas Coupland, author of Microserfs
“Hilariously dark and satirical.” — Library Journal
“A very dark, viciously funny novel.” — Booklist
“This is not for the easily offended, but readers with at least a slightly deranged bent will have a ball.” — Publishers Weekly
“Kill Your Friends is the most exciting British novel since Trainspotting.” — Word magazine
“Like the product of an unholy union between Bret Easton Ellis and Martin Amis...the reader is alternately shocked and left crying with laughter.” — Bookseller (London)