Exit Management

by Naomi Booth, Unknown Author

"At minus five degrees, even the densest blood materials start to the beginnings of a human heart will still into black ice."Callum has been given an Jozsef's house is the perfect place to live - plenty of room, a sought-after London location and filled with priceless works of art. All that Jozsef asks in return is for some company while he's ill and the promise that if it all gets too much, someone will be there to help him at the end. It's fortunate then, when Callum meets Lauren who works in Human Resources and specialises in getting rid of people. Jozsef welcomes them both inside, and so begins a deadly spiral of violence. Pushed ever onwards by the poison of ambition, and haunted by loses from the past, these characters are drawn together in a catastrophe of endings. Naomi Booth's second novel is a groundbreaking dissection of class, xenophobia and compassion. Exit Management will seize you in its cold hands and show you the dark heart within us all.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Horror, Dark, Mystery, Thriller

Audio CD

First published September 10, 2020

About the author

Naomi Booth is a writer and academic. Her fiction tends to explore unsettling landscapes, strange compulsions, dangerous bodies and contamination. Her short fiction has been longlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award, the Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize, and included in Best British Short Stories 2019. Her story Sour Hall was adapted into an audio drama by Audible.

Reviews

[Lark Benobi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing is quite interesting--there is a lot of effective use of sentence fragments, to evoke a jittery anxiety throughout, and the descriptive prose is marvelous. After Booth's first novel, Sealed, I knew I'd be reading ever book Booth writes from then on. A master of mood.

[Sammy Alexia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Updating now I have finished the book. Like the dark atmosphere of the book, the layered characters. Was there a story that held me to the last page? Not... quite. But I still found it interesting and would check out more from Booth.

[Liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, Exit Management is not the type of book I've been reading lately, but this book got beneath my skin and dragged me into an exploration of the darker sides of human nature. This book explores class, compassion, xenophobia, ambition and how our choices come to haunt us. There are three core characters that the novel centres around. Jozsef, an old man who escaped Budapest under communist rule who now lives in London with a nice house, and a fine art collection. Then there is young Callum; he's an innocent at heart, he lacks direction in his life and his job as a GuestHouses worker brings him into contact with Jozsef. There he befriends the elderly and ailing Jozsef who is seeking company and support as his health begins to fail. Finally, there is Lauren who is driven by her need to escape her working-class roots, haunted by events in her youth and seemingly obsessed with the future.

The novel explores as these three characters lives intersect and how ambition and compassion come into conflict and can result in life spiralling out of control. The novel certainly touches on the darker sides of life as we see Lauren's drive to succeed impact on her choices. Her job is based in human resourcing and her speciality gives the novel its name Exit Management. She gets rid of people and this already gives the novel and her character a sinister feel. She's an interesting character when paired with Callum who appears much more fragile, compassionate and unambitious it almost makes her actions so much worse.

However, for me both characters had issues with their life directions, with their actions and with their past to resolve throughout the novel. I think the novel also served to engage with ideas of image; how we view ourselves, how we view others, how we want ourselves to be perceived, how we enable other's perceptions to guide our actions, choices and lifestyle. I think this novel really portrayed these sinister edges of life as we saw Lauren driven by her desire to continuously impress her boss Mina and follow her 'code to success'. By the end of the novel, it didn't feel as though everything were resolved, but it wasn't all dark and despairing.

The ideas of class and xenophobia were seen most strongly in the sections where Lauren talked about her roots and when she returned to her family in West Yorkshire. These chapters I liked as this is really close to home for me and dipped into the working-class background, the poverty, the problems and the xenophobic attitudes that exists in some of these communities. I wish we'd had a little more of Lauren's roots and the West Yorkshire setting as I feel that places outside of London are often overlooked in books. These attitudes and themes were also mirrored in Callum's roots and his family back in their flat in Clapham. I thought this was quite clever as it mirrored two different areas of the UK but highlighted how the same problems existed in both.

The style of the book was a little disjointed to begin with as there are shorter chapters and choppy staccato sentences, mixed up with longer more flowing passages. The dialogue is all in italics so it was sometimes difficult to work out who was speaking but this served to keep the flow of the novel and keep the pace. And as the novel went along I became much more immersed and unable to set it down.

Overall I found Exit Management an enthralling read with many themes and some really complex characters to dig into it. It felt sinister and dark at times, but then it also felt real and haunting. There is a lot to unpack from Exit Management but well worth a read when released on September 10th 2020. Thanks to the publishers Dead Ink Books for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! Must try more from Dead Ink Books…

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exit Management is quite a novel - seductively dark and with more than a little dose of chill at it's heart, and yet strangely insightful and compassionate at the same time. Naomi manages to draw you completely into her tragic tale of two lovers so completely unsuited to each other that you know heartbreak can be their only destination. I don't think I have ever read anything quite like it before - in a good way... a very good way.

Lauren is cold and fiercely ambitious, She has reinvented herself to get as far away as possible from her traumatic background - the roots that have seriously screwed her up inside. Callum is ripe for the picking, but his close friendship with the elderly Joszef proves to be both an opportunity and fly-in-the-ointment for Lauren's plans, and although in some ways she gets exactly what she wants, the fateful meeting of these three characters proves to be her undoing, while at the same time oddly being the making of Callum.

You would think that this makes Lauren the villain here, for how can you like someone so cold and calculating? But as the story unfolds, you learn exactly why Lauren has become the broken person she is - determined to stand on her own two feet and driven to do anything to get what she wants - and why she actually thinks she is protecting her nearest and dearest in the process. She is both hateful and desperately vulnerable at the same time; a contrary and controversial mix of conflicting desires, intentions and emotions.

Callum begins the piece as a drifter without direction. He is desperate for connection with a fellow human being, for love, and this makes him easy prey for Lauren - even if their meeting and plans are based on misconceptions at the start. But this also makes him open to forming a close and rather beautiful bond with Joszef. Callum's innate compassion is what ultimately brings him to breaking point as his deeply felt emotions eventually spill over, it is also the quality that saves him too.

This is a complex and multi-layered novel, that beautifully explores the weight of the past, class, ambition, relationships and connection with out fellow human beings, and the way Naomi Booth dissects and then displays the many facets of the meaning behind her cleverest of titles, Exit Management, is superb. This is a sad book, and our author leaves us in no doubt that we are not heading for a happy ending from the off, but it gets inside your head, and I so desperately want to know what happens for Lauren and Callum next - always the sign of a great storyteller. Outstanding!

[Ellie Hawkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll start with the title: Exit Management wins the award for most layered, meaningful title of any book I’ve read this year. The word “exit” has such powerful contemporary connotations, and indeed, the shadow of Brexit looms over this book. But there are so many more “exits” to be managed in this story, each one deepening the significance of the title in a way which honestly left me in awe. I won’t say more here for fear of spoilers, but trust me, this book has LAYERS. I could probably write an essay on the title alone.

The two main characters, Lauren and Cal, are complex, nuanced and utterly believable, even as the events of the plot skew sideways from the expected. Booth employs a dazzlingly effective close third person, with staccato sentences and sensory impressions aligning the reader with their point of view. Written in urgent present tense, the viewpoint feels only just outside their heads: in a film, the camera would be grazing their cheek as it jolts and shudders with their every movement. It is intense and incredibly powerful. Words like ‘gripping’ or ‘immersive’ are not quite enough to describe the effect this book had on me – I couldn’t have stopped reading if I wanted to (which I didn’t!)

All of the characters in the novel are exquisitely drawn. Josef is a fascinating character, a voice from the past, his italicized stories bringing history into the present, and his relationship with Cal is deeply moving. I love that Booth doesn’t question or judge their closeness, or try to explain it too fully: it is simply a beautiful friendship, a slice of tenderness at the heart of the book. It also contrasts nicely with Lauren’s relationship to her mentor, Mina, a tough, cool woman who teaches Lauren how to survive in London. The city itself also becomes a character in the book, and the descriptions of properties are an effective way of highlighting the disparities of London life. Josef’s house, and the changes it undergoes, provides some of the most meticulously detailed, wonderfully visual descriptions in the book. Again, I found a kind of cinematic, camera-panning quality to the writing, which I adored.

This novel explores so many themes: it seems to cover everything, all of life, wrapped up in a cool, stylish, sometimes cynical package, but with aching truth underneath. It is London itself in novel form: sleek, hard exterior hiding the beating hearts and manifold small tragedies of its inhabitants. Objects, possessions, feelings, ambitions, past, present, possible futures; all collide in this exquisite examination of modern city life.

I was absolutely blown away by the sheer scale and complexity of this novel: it is a staggering achievement. Exit Management is a book I will be thinking about for a very long time, and I can’t recommend it strongly enough. I would even go so far to say it’s my favourite book of the year, which is no small claim, as I have read some fantastic books this year! But this one really got its hooks into me, and left me feeling absolutely exhilarated, as only the very best books do. I can’t wait to read more by this author.

[Red Newsom · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Winter. Waking into early darkness. Believing it is morning is an act of faith. A hard frost glinting in the street lights on the pavement of Little Venice. No birdsong. Frost barely thawing through the sun-less days. Nails flaking in the cold. Skin dulled. Every London creature looking hunted and sun-starved."

Naomi Booth takes the claustrophic closeness of her last novel, Sealed, and moves it to an urban setting.

Lauren and Cal are two twenty-somethings working in London; Cal with a portfolio of empty homes rented out as AirBNBs for the mega-rich and Lauren the HR equivalent of the person operating the guillotine, seeing employees swiftly removed from their jobs. The old tagline: "They meet, and Lauren alters Cal's life in a way he could have never imagined". But this isn't a romance.

Something about Booth's writing just hits me in the right spot. It's right up my alley; visceral and atmospheric without being vague. You can practically see Lauren melting under the hot light of her rigid corporate lifestyle where image is everything. Anecdotes of a character's past life is italicised and inserted into the plot so seemless that I almost wished it was a book in itself. Exit Management is a dark novel; in parts the characters' pain really radiates off the page, and the feeling of it lingers with you long after you turn the last page.

[Dramatika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the structure and the themes explored in the book. The characters are also closer to real people, not saints or evil but juts normal people who are a bit of the mix of both. What bugs me though is that all the questionable people with shady or appalling traits are all female. We do hear of some violent male predators but the narration is so strange that we never really know what exactly these men did or if they were real at all. That is one thing that keeps bothering me , the vague references to some events in the past, this coy game with readers that author play.
The loser male here turns out to be the white knight who likes to care for people. Well most of the caring has been done by women for ages, moreover it is well expected that as women one should be caring and compassionate a as given. I for once never felt any higher calling in caring and did it only for my closest people. I'm not the caring type and somehow I am already vilified for that. Men had it easier in that respect.
And there is the usual trope about the evil Soviets, how any book can survive without it. Germans has been doing raping and killing of millions of Soviets people, 27 millions has died, yet we never hear about that. Instead we are reminded of the few cases of rapes and pillaging non stop. It is a if the history has been turned and soon they will tell us that USSR is the one to blame for WWII. Go figure .
The ending is open, again some vague references to whatever the noble loser would do with an unexpected fortune. Frustration is the overwhelming feeling I'm left after reading this book, hence the three stars.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so disappointing, I feel as thought pretty much nothing happened and the summary had almost no link to the actual book. The atmosphere is tense and creepy but I felt like there was no pay off in the end.
I love loved loved Sealed by the author so I was very excited to read Exit Manament, but I'll still check out Naomi Booth's next work, hopefully she goes back to horror because it seems to work better for me than this type of book.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dark tale centred around three main characters;

József who escaped his home in Budapest after World War Two as a young man and found his way to London where renowned artist Tamás Márton took him in and taught him everything about being an artist. Now the owner of a beautiful home in Elgin Mews in London but suffering ill health.

Callum who is a curator for Guest House, checking various properties, including József’s home before they are let out. József is in hospital but ready to go hone where Callum will look after him.

Lauren. Ambitious young lady who will seem to do anything to have the life she dreams of, including wangling her way into Callum’s life thinking the house is his.


I enjoyed this rather unusual book.

[Magdalena Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I devoured Exit Management, and Dead Ink might be my new favourite indie publisher! This book is strange and great, complex and straightforward, and will make you feel and think a lot. I really enjoyed Naomi Booth's writing - the vocabulary is excellent - but as there's no quotation marks to indicate when and who is speaking, it takes a moment to get into it. Once you're in, though, it's gripping and fast-paced. Even though there are two main characters, all the other people who appear in the book add so much to the story and the main characters' development - Booth does it brilliantly. And the descriptions of London are spot on! Naomi Booth is definitely an interesting writer, so I'd like to pick up her other novels or the recent short story collection soon.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before lockdown, I wasn’t aware that there was a sub-genre of psychological thrillers that centre on property purchases, even though I’d read the occasional novel that would fit this brief – Kate Murray-Browne’s excellent The Upstairs Room is one example. However, one of my neighbours is clearly a big fan of Louise Candlish’s fiction, and has deposited thriller after thriller in our little free neighbourhood library, all of which focus on people buying, selling and losing houses, often because of hostility on their street (Our House; Those People; The Sudden Departure of the Frasers.) Although I am a bit concerned about what this says about how my neighbour feels about our other neighbours, I’ve also got into this sub-genre. Most obviously, these books are about class; the protagonists tend to be aspirational and upwardly mobile, and obsessively concerned with not living near anybody who doesn’t fit their own standards. At the same time, they idolise those who operate in a higher social echelon, and fantasise about moving into a particular house or street to live that kind of life – even though, once they get there, they usually feel uncomfortable. However, what interests me more than this pretty straightforward classism is how intensely concerned these novels are with our desire to use space to keep others out, not just those whom we look down upon, but anybody at all.

Naomi Booth’s new novel, Exit Management, takes the uneasiness brewing beneath the surface of these thrillers and boils it into a froth. Unlike Candlish’s dissatisfied middle-class leads, both her protagonists come from working-class backgrounds. Cal works as a concierge for a firm that rents out elite London residences to wealthy clients; however, he’s become very close to one of the homeowners who uses the firm, elderly and terminally ill Jozsef, who introduces him to a world of visual art that he’s never experienced before. Lauren handles ‘exit management’ for HR, easing people gently out of their jobs, and finds she has a natural talent for it. Outside work, she desperately seeks a house that might fit both her tastes and her price range, and keeps coming up short. When Cal asks Lauren out on a date, everything starts moving very quickly – although I’m not sure what the publisher’s blurb for Exit Management is going on about when it talks about the trio descending into ‘a deadly spiral of violence’, so I’d suggest ignoring it.

I’ve already read at least one review for Exit Management which talks about class and Brexit, and yes, those elements are present in the novel, but I don’t think they’re what the book’s really about. (Booth is also the first fiction writer I’ve seen not to resort to the lazy ‘white working class = xenophobia = Brexit voters’ narrative, writing a scene where Cal’s parents, who voted different ways in the referendum, debate the issue, and making it clear that even Cal’s dad’s leave vote wasn’t driven by what we might think of as the obvious motives.) As I said, these kind of novels are about keeping other people out, and keeping ourselves in. Because of this, even though Exit Management is, on the surface, very different from Booth’s last novel, the pandemic eco-horror Sealed, they also have a lot in common. Both books are concerned with our firm but false belief that we can uphold our own physical boundaries, and how environmental degradation makes that impossible. As Lauren reflects, her body is full of ‘single-use objects that never go away: the piece of chewing gum she’d swallowed as a child; the end of coral-coloured gel nail she’d once bitten off in a meeting… and that night back in 2008… when she’d insisted on a condom and she’d seen the empty foil packet on the floor, but no condom had re-emerged, post-coitus’.

Exit Management pulls off an unusual feat: it works remarkably well as mainstream literary fiction, with vivid characterisation, an evocative sense of place, and satisfyingly complex social tensions, but it also operates on a more experimental level. At first, you might not notice the slightly-too-big gaps between the words in certain sentences; but as they widen and become more frequent near the end of the novel, you might start to wonder what’s underneath those empty spaces. For me, even though very little of the text is missing, I felt like it was being gradually eaten away by something terrifying that lacks any kind of edges of its own, like the Nothing in Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story. If you want to read Exit Management solely for its social and political plot, you can; but there’s definitely something else lurking at its margins. 4.5 stars.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a criticism I level frequently at various books but it remains true: there is a great novella inside this (already short) novel, if a good third of it were cut. Beautiful meaning, power and momentum which runs drastically out of steam at the midpoint of the book, which is also structurally the pinnacle from which it can only decline (: Jozsef’s death - (except not spoilers, because it’s mentioned in the blurb, despite being the main event of the book??)). A few too many chekov’s guns that failed to go off.

[Tom Li · Rating 3 out of 5]

it took me ages to finish this book, so my reading slump almost definitely contributed to me not enjoying it as much as i could have. the syntax drew me in from the beginning- i liked how everything merged together into one messy mass- similar to sally rooney in the sense of there being no punctuation markers of speech, but almost better. this was because of the fragmented nature of the syntax, often bearing physical gaps and line breaks. i also liked how there was no clear trajectory for the chapters; they alternated between the two narrators but were only separated by a single bold sentence.
i could feel myself sympathising with lauren in particular even though i hated her guts and it was interesting to see her future oriented self almost degrade during the book. also i appreciated how modern the storytelling was, with themes of class in particular, and the timely issue of brexit.
tldr: gorgeous prose

[Sophy H · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Releases sigh verrrrrrrrry slowly!

Well this was majorly disappointing. The premise was good and it started out really strong, straight in, boom, character development and story building, here we go.

However it soon transpired that the characters were annoying (Jozsef aside, he was the only likeable one amongst them), the story pretty far fetched, the constant "flashbacks" to childhood from Lauren grating and Cal was like a wet bloody fish who needed a slap (no offence meant to fish!)

And then it just degraded into metaphorical, "symbolic", experimental bullshit! Eugh! A supposed used condom floating around inside a woman's body for years, er where is it supposed to have gone exactly?! The contents of a possible miscarriage kept in a domestic freezer, mm hm yeah yeah ok?!

I am hugely discontented after this read. A poor show from Booth.

[Sima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written. Interesting. I liked it

[LauraLee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5, rounded up.

Very descriptive, with a uniquely eerie, almost creepy vibe. I like what the author did with the lack of speech punctuation. The multiple meanings behind the title are cool as well.

The book drags on in the last third. Maybe it would have worked better as a novella?

[Chris Deeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naomi Booth is an author of utterly astonishing talent, and ‘Exit Management’ is quite possibly my surprise of the year. (I mean pleasant bookish surprise, obviously 2020 has been a shocker in the department of other surprises) The only thing is, I can’t put my finger on why I loved this book so much. Booth writes with an undefinable quality that left me unable to put it down.

The story centres around two characters, Callum and Lauren. Lauren, an HR employee specialising in letting people go, has reinvented herself from her humble and tragic beginnings, and her ambition and drive to reach the top is unstoppable. Callum, on the other hand, lives with his Mum and Dad in Croydon and is a little lost in life. He tends to the vacant houses of the ultra rich, making them ready for guest visits, and in this role forms a bond with an ill and elderly client named József. József’s passion for art and knack for story telling provides the foundation for their inter-generational relationship. A chance encounter outside of József’s house with Lauren leads to a misunderstanding in which Lauren sees Callum as her next rung on the ladder to success, and that is where events spiral out as both try to cover up the unpleasant aspects of their real selves to get something out of the other. However, the past cannot be paved over, some things will always break through.

There is something refreshingly slick and modern about Booth’s writing style, enhanced by creative typography and unique sentence structure. Chock full of themes and symbolism, without feeling even remotely heavy handed in their application, Booth takes small ideas and deftly builds rich and vivid worlds for these few characters to uncomfortably inhabit.

‘Exit Management’ is intelligent, eloquent and consuming. It is an unflinching portrayal of class, family, race, trauma and gender, that somehow manages to delicately and successfully pull all of these threads together into an exciting and anxious narrative fuelled by desire for a better future, whatever the cost.

[Michael Reffold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts off strong and the descriptive language is particularly striking throughout, but doesn’t really go anywhere all that interesting.

The publisher, Dead Ink, really need to employ some editors - there is at least one grammatical error every few pages, just like in the other books I have read from them.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

The parts of this novel that dealt with Jozef and his stories of Hungary and life in 1960s London were captivating. The title Exit Management was appropriate to Lauren's work and Callum's role as a carer.
3.5


Birmingham library

[Gretchen Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great title, a topic with so many layers. A dark tale of human frailties. Frustratingly flawed characters, but this is the point of the book I guess. A good read but not I'm not convinced I'd seek out another of this author.

[Jools · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging characters with fascinating back stories. I wept for Joseph and Cal, and didn't want the story to end when it did. So many questions unanswered, I wanted it to go on and on!

[Victoria Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author really knows how to set a mood. Once you get used to the writing style (choppy, no speech marks) then it really helps you get into the characters' heads. Clever.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully dark, just teetering on the cusp of weird with a writing style like nothing I've read before. Can't wait to see what this author does next.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an unusual & unpredictable plot with complex characters.
I liked the recounting of some of the history of Hungary.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I thought it was original and I'll definitely check out the author's other novels.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Capitalism vs collectivism.

A perfect representation of 21st century Britain.

[Meri · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was weird and i couldnt really get into it :/

[Bodies in the Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You’re alive. You’re alive, aren’t you? So there is hope” (p.289).

This is essentially a book about trauma and the way it burrows into your life even when you proactively make an attempt to move on.

Joszef, the owner of 12 Elgin Mews, was born after his mother was raped by Soviet soldiers in Hungary after World War II. He is sent for safety after the Fall of Budapest to London to stay with Tamas Marton, his step-father, and neither of them hear from his mother again.

As Joszef nears his own death, he employs Callum to look after him and to euthanise him when the time comes. Callum is a kind young man who has not the stomach or the heart for such an action, and his girlfriend Lauren steps in.

Lauren has survived repeated sexual abuse by friends of her father, believing she has protected her younger sister, Amy, by going along with what the men want. Meanwhile Amy has been sexually abused by their father, believing she is protecting Lauren. Amy curls up into a ball at home with their mother after witnessing a railway accident that leaves her friend a double amputee. Lauren, refusing to lick her own wounds, makes her way to London, where she becomes an HR officer specialising in exit management. She thinks she can help Joszef with his own exit in the same way.

Eventually telling Callum what she has done, Lauren suffers a prolonged nervous collapse as all the certainties of her life collapse round her. The ice she thought she held in her core offers scant protection as her multiple traumas resurface in her mind, living alone in 12 Elgin Mews. She has a miscarriage and manages to scrape together together enough of her spontaneously aborted foetus to preserve it in the freezer. As trauma attaches to trauma, we learn more of her past, as she realises that in trying to move on she has merely isolated herself.

In the end, we see Callum come to terms with his grief for Joszef and help Lauren bury the remains of their child. And we see Joszef’s message, carried from his traumatised mother to this traumatised young woman. “You’re alive ... So there’s hope.”

This novel is written poetically, which enables it to tell such a gritty story without becoming overwhelmingly grim. There is a real sense of both hope and beauty in this tale. And the passage dealing with Lauren’s miscarriage is the most biologically accurate and emotionally cathartic account I have read in fiction. Thank you, Naomi Booth, for writing this remarkable novel.