I Want You to Be Happy: A Novel

A tender, witty, and sharp debut novel about the passions and peculiarities of modern love, by “an extraordinarily gifted writer” (Sally Rooney).

Chuck and Joey meet in a bar. He’s in his mid-thirties; she’s twelve years younger. He long ago abandoned his ambition of being a novelist and works as a copywriter at a big ad agency. "Lead copywriter," he corrects himself. Joey is living 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 is imagining a future between them and Chuck is moving on from a major change in his recent past. Amazing, how meeting a new person can make you feel so new.

Funny, excruciating, and true, Jem Calder's 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.

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JEM CALDER was born in Cambridge and lives and works in London. He is the author of the short story collection Reward System, and his writing has been published in Granta and The Stinging Fly.