Read an extract: The Planner by Tom Campbell

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Praise for Fold ‘Scintillating debut novel … He echoes the precise, unbridled nastiness of early 1980s Martin Amis ... Defies you not to laugh out loud even as you gasp in horror at the amorality’ Metro

James is exactly what you’d expect from one of London’s most promising young town planners. He’s cautious, respected by colleagues and performs well in team meetings. But while James understands the glitter and grime of the city better than almost anyone, he hasn’t actually experienced much of it.

‘Darkly comic … Fold has the makings of a cult classic’ Sun ‘Hornbyesque with a touch of Nick Cave’s Grinderman album thrown in … Hilarious’ Daily Mail Tom Campbell read history at Edinburgh University. Fold, his first novel, was published by Bloomsbury in 2011 to critical acclaim. He lives in north London with his wife and three sons.

‘Campbell’s sentences have a snap to them … He makes you want to read the next page. It’s as simple as that’ Guardian

As he watches his university friends blossom bewilderingly into rich and successful adults, he has the nagging sense that he has somehow fallen by the wayside. That is, until he meets Felix, who navigates the glamorous and cynical capital with sophisticated ease.

Praise for The Planner ‘Made me laugh more times than any book in recent times … manages to nail both the lunacy of modern urban living and the more general problem of being a human being’ Mark Watson ‘Compelling, mysterious and deeply beguiling, The Planner maintains its suspense until the very last page’ Matt Thorne

by ble ila ell a v pb oa Als Cam m o T

‘A genuinely funny, scathing, intelligent book’

Felix introduces James to a London that he has never known, a city that doesn’t feature in the planning manuals: a world of private clubs and executive football boxes; of book launches, contemporary art galleries, suburban drug dealers and dates with women even more exotic than the exorbitant vodka shots they drink. But London is an expensive city in many ways, and the world Felix has opened up comes at a cost. James may know how to design housing estates and high streets, but is it really possible to redraw the masterplan for his own life?

www.bloomsbury.com £12.99

And what will he lose along the way? Design & illustration: Steve Leard Author photograph: Nick Cunard

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Read an extract: The Planner by Tom Campbell by Bloomsbury Publishing - Issuu