I Want You to Be Happy

Named a Best Book of 2026 So Far by The New Yorker 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 now 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 and the crumbs in her bed. All too soon, Joey is imagining a future between them, while Chuck struggles to move on from a mistake in his recent past. It's amazing how meeting a new person can make you feel so new. Vibrant, funny, and excruciatingly 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.

Jem Calder was born in Cambridge and lives and works in London. His fiction has been published in The Stinging Fly and Granta. He is the author of the short-story collection Reward System.