Jem Calder

Stories

Reward System

Julia has landed a fresh start—at a “pan-European” restaurant. “Imagine that,” says her mother. “I’m imagining.” Nick is flirting with sobriety and nobody else. Did you know adults his age are now more likely to live with their parents than with a romantic partner? Life should have started to take shape by now—but instead we’re trying on new versions of ourselves, swiping left and right, searching for a convincing answer to that question: “What do you do?” Jem Calder’s Reward System is a set of ultra-contemporary and electrifyingly fresh fictions about work, relationships, and the strange loop of technology and the self. They are about a generation on the cusp: the story of two people enmeshed in Zooms and lockdowns, loneliness and love, devices and desires. Hyperaware but also deeply confused about who they are, Julia and Nick reveal the way we live now in a startling new light.

Inga Pellisa Díaz

Sistema de recompensa

One of GQ’s Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2026, The Sunday Times Style’s Must-Read Books for 2026, and The Guardian’s Debut Novels to Look Out for in 2026. 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'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 major change 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 trying.

A Novel

I Want You to Be Happy

'A superb writer, by turns funny, graceful, acidly cynical, lyrical.' Guardian 'Jem Calder is my new favourite writer.' Andrew O'Hagan 'Calder's writing achieves that rare thing of capturing how it feels to be young.' Esquire 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 major change 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 trying.

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Guardian ● Esquire ● The White Review ● NPR Jem Calder's Reward System is a set of ultra-contemporary and electrifyingly fresh fictions about a generation on the cusp, enmeshed in Zooms and lockdowns, loneliness and love. Audacious fictions for a generation wondering: What now? Julia has landed a fresh start at an up-and-coming city restaurant. "Imagine that," says her mother. "I’m imagining." Her ex-boyfriend Nick is flirting with sobriety and nobody else. Did you know that adults his age are more likely to live with their parents than with a romantic partner? Life should have started to take shape by now—but instead we’re trying on new versions of ourselves, swiping left and right, searching for a good answer to the question "What do you do?"

Jem Calder

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