Wimmy Road Boyz

by Sufiyaan Salam

three boyz drive & dream
of an impossible night
on an endless street...

a white bimmer hurtles down manchester’s curry mile, carrying three brown boys in pursuit of a wild night out, oi oi oi!

there’s IMMY (22) – nursing mad heartbreak but tryna get over it by chirpsing someone new, hoping to distract from the scores of rage bubbling up beneath...

there’s KHAN (23) – cambridge-gangster on a mission to avenge, losing himself to old stereotypes, illegal ventures on the sly...

and there’s HARIS (23) – the sensitive type, getting married next week but having second thoughts, feeling mad para about his day ones discovering all his secrets.

it’s an evening of chaos and mischief. three boys with nothing to do and something to prove. of course there’s gonna be trouble.

and look, what the boys don’t know: this night might just be their last...

WIMMY ROAD BOYZ is a blistering story of masculinity, violence and love set over the course of a single, surreal night from a wholly original new British talent.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, India

384 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2026

About the author

Sufiyaan Salam is a writer and former animator from Blackburn. He’s working on several TV & feature projects, and co-wrote the short film MAGID / ZAFAR, premiering in 2025. Wimmy Road Boyz, winner of the #Merky Books New Writers’ prize, is his first novel.

Reviews

[Sufiyaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK NGL

I ATE WITH THIS ONE

🚗🚗🚗💨💨💨

[alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

whewww i am way too fragile for this rn. heartbreakingly beautiful and yet i’m laughing through my tears. so different from anything i’ve ever read

— more collected thoughts

upcoming from @merkybooks - something very, very special

when people talk about how men have it hard and they talk about boys that have been vilified and left behind, they are, of course, often talking about largely privileged white men. the various traumas and pains the characters of Wimmy Road Boyz have experienced could be argued to be universal, yet their specific cultural context — young men of Pakistani descent who grew up in northern England — throws these issues into greater relief

with hyper-intimate perspectives of his three main characters and brief deviations through a wider cast, the author paints a vivid and powerful portrait of what it is to be young and Brown in britain
questions of masculinity, shame, identity, community, power, love, and truth are tackled in a way that never feels heavy handed. each boy is in turmoil, wrestling with an inner darkness he can barely face let alone share, and these rise to the surface throughout the course of one night
naturally, this book goes to some dark places, yet it made me laugh aloud time and time again. the voices are raw and messy (and strikingly real) but the author’s prose is precise. just stunning writing throughout

a magnificent novel, one i hope to see a lot of people talking about, and i hope a lot of teenagers and young people read this

#merkybooks #scottishbookstagrammer #publishing

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

just phenomenal — and i’m not using that word lightly. unlike anything i’ve ever read, i won’t be surprised if this is on the booker longlist this year

[Sabah Salam · Rating 5 out of 5]

BURSTING WITH ENERGY!

I laughed, I cried and I paused so many times, in awe of how incredible each sentence is - devouring it, like a 1kg box of the freshest, hottest and stickiest jalebi. What an incredible story of friendship, family, masculinity and vulnerability (and so much more!!!!) And oh, how Sufiyaan captures the vibrancy and chaotic energy of the Curry Mile!

[Caitlin Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely unreal. Salam is such a cutting new voice on the writing scene who isn't afraid to play with plot, form and his readers' hearts. All the comeraderie and real-life complexity of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting with a cultural anchor at its core, this book hit me like a freight train. I expect to see this book on the bestseller lists next year.

[Andrew McLoughlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nah - the hype is strong here.

Positives:
- Vivid
- Nice and contemporary - makes a refreshing change to hear accurate dialogue. As a result it comes across as natural, getting you closer to the characters.
- Often effective in terms of drama, tension and giving the feeling of being wrapped up in a crazy night.
- A solid attempt - kudos to him for breaking through and his next book will undoubtedly bang.

Negatives:
- The insistence on attempting poetic and lyrical language grates. Bit open mic-ish after a while. The literary devices are sometimes obvious and stiff, so much that the fact I kept noticing them on every page, detracting from the story, rather than being an integral part. Alliteration - check. Similes - check etc
- The pacing is all over the place. So slow in places that you'll be praying for it to end or at least speed up. Then superfast in the last 50 pages where the story finally gets active.
- For a similar reason, it could have been 50-80 pages shorter.

[Cate Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is absolutely incredible and everyone should read this. Sufiyaan Salam has burst onto the scene with this utterly captivating debut and i am in love with every word.

following the story of three Manchester boys through their last night driving up and down the curry mile, the reader is taken on a whirlwind journey into each boy’s life and all their demons.

the most impactful thing about this book is the style. my colleague told me that Salam had said that he never wanted to write a boring sentence like ‘he sat down’ and that immediately made the writing so much more interesting to read. it was poetically structured at points before spinning off into beautiful prose - never over-flowered or over explained, but perfectly done. i love when a writer forgoes standard English rules - i.e capital letters etc - as it gives the narrative a completely different feel, in this case, making it much more conversational and realistic. he is funny, full of incredible wit and his words overflow with colour and emotion. genuinely some epic writing.

the characters of Immy, Khan and Haris were so individually unique and incredibly developed, each had their own voice and personality in my head, their backstories winding through years and years of life, unsaid but seen in between each line on the page. each story made your heartbreak, with Immy as the ringleader of the three. when i started reading this book, i said to myself ‘these boys are going to make cry, aren’t they?’. i was not wrong.

i laughed out loud, i felt their pain deep in my soul, the beauty of their friendship that speaks to all of us. and man, that ending. what a way to break me.

an absolutely fantastic novel, could not recommend this enough. thank you to the publishers (and my work!) for my proof copy of this moving and exciting book, which comes out 28th of May. don’t miss it!!

[Sam Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend. Wimmy road boyz is originally comical, exhilarating and disturbing - making it incredibly fun to read. All while managing to find wholly new ways of hitting you in the gut.

[Aasiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in a hospital room haze and my neck hurts from being hunched over the screen. So rich and vibrant.

[youreinmystars · Rating 3 out of 5]

i am so on the fence about this more so on the representation of muslims as a practising muslim myself. it left me frustrated but served as an eye opener. GRAHHGG for once i'd love to see muslims actually believing what they preach bcuz this religion IS beautiful and kind and i'd like it to be taken seriously for once.

floored with the mention of middlesbrough and preston/uclan like i lived there! what! pakistanis are so integral to the UK and i appreciate seeing them on paper. seeing how these boys speak, think and act is so REAL as someone who went to school with boys like these in the north oh my days.

[molly davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[em · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Phew. What a beautiful, human and heartbreaking book. As someone who has grown up around boys like Immy, Khan and Haris, their voices lifted from the page and became very real, very quickly. The writing style took a little to get used to, but added to the overall character of the story. I could tell from the beginning that the book was racing head first towards a disaster, but it still took me by surprise.

Salam has a way of writing that balances humour, trauma and anger all at once. These boys felt real, their unprocessed emotions and trauma were incredibly powerful as was their friendship. A beautiful and immensely impressive debut, serving as a nod to human emotion and masculinity.

(Also, big up Manny rep!!! The references to the north and Manchester were so brilliant).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #WimmyRoadBoyz #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Faatimah V · Rating 5 out of 5]

finished like 200 pages in a day, stayed up till 1am on a friday night to finish, phenomenal time was had fr - laughed, cried and was genuinely so moved. felt like genuine representation of the boys i grew up with that I've never seen before and wasn't just caricaturising them, will also be reflecting on the traumas of growing up as a working class fruity northern brown muslim kid while I go to sleep tonight but also rerunning through some insane prose in my mind, so beautifully written! this is rambling and work was very long today so I am now going to sleep <3

[Olive · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cried so much at how these boys failed themselves and how the world failed them and yet how they loved the world and loved each other regardless. I laughed, I cried, I journaled for an entire page about how much I wanted to kill one of the characters. I looked my own male rage in the face and loved her. So beautiful. I love manchester i wish it was real

[Peanut · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Wimmy Road Boyz" ist sehr energetisch und fesselnd. Salam schreibt in einem modernen, experimentellen Stil, der für mich sehr erfrischend war. Stellenweise ist das Buch auch poetisch. Die Geschichte der drei jungen Männer ist berührend und zugleich cool. Es ist schön, Literatur aus der eigenen Generation zu lesen und sie nachempfinden zu können. Salam schafft es, die Charaktere einzigartig und empathisch aufzubauen. Die Entwicklung des Abends und das Voranschreiten der Geschichte offenbaren immer neue Geheimnisse und Wendungen. Es ist unerwartet, roh, ehrlich, poetisch und einzigartig. Für mich ein sehr schönes Buch, das moderne Kultur und Männlichkeit mit Literatur verknüpft - eine zeitlose Aufnahme unseres Zeitgeistes.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly one of the best books I’ve ever ever read. I laughed aloud multiple times, cried, and wallowed in the delicious, exciting, electric language. I’m sad that it’s over, and feel privileged to have read it. 100% BANGER 💥

[Toby Leveson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely mesmerising, like being on a runaway train, not knowing when or how it was going to stop, only understanding at some point it had to.

[Sara]

Dnf at 4% - I had to stop at the COUSIN SEX like 10 pages in😕 I bet my ex would really relate to this book🥰

[Evie]

So, so beautiful - really strong work on masculinity, friendships, different types of loyalty and how we need to break these for some that are more important and just. Cannot believe this is a debut.
Also: listened on audio and wowwwwww! So immersive.

[antoine doinel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shakespeare’s sweating rn

[Roshan Patel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this.

Part of that is personal. It’s rare to come across a new literary novel by a young brown writer that feels like it might be speaking directly to some version of your own experience. As a brown man around a similar age, who also grew up in a predominantly white Western culture, I was genuinely excited to read this. The premise felt immediately compelling to me: young Muslim men trying to move through friendship, desire, culture, race, family, religion, and adulthood in a world that doesn’t always know what to do with them.

And the beginning really is electric. The first hundred pages had an energy I loved. The prose is the clear standout here: sharp, strange, funny, beautiful, and very much its own thing. Salam has a real sentence-level gift, and there were moments where the style felt so alive and specific that I thought the book was going to become something incredible. The best parts of the novel are the moments where he leans into the specificity of culture, race, family, religion, and the particular subculture of these young Muslim men. There are references, textures, and details here that feel fresh and lived-in.

But after the opening section, the book lost steam for me and never really got it back. The pacing became one of the biggest problems. What started as propulsive and exciting began to feel slow and uneven, and after about a third of the way through I found myself waiting for the book to end rather than being pulled forward by it.

The character work also didn’t fully land for me. The three main characters often blurred together, and despite the book clearly wanting them to feel distinct and emotionally rich, they sometimes felt more like caricatures than fully realized people. I understood, in a broad sense, what the book was trying to capture about being young, brown, Muslim, restless, and alienated in a white culture. But the characters themselves didn’t feel specific enough to carry the emotional weight the book kept asking them to hold.

That became my larger issue: a lot of the emotional impact felt manufactured rather than earned. The book introduces heavy material — sexuality, trauma, sexual assault, shame — but too often these things felt bolted onto the characters rather than emerging naturally from who they were. It sometimes felt like: here is a character, and here is the pain or identity marker that is supposed to make them complicated. But because I didn’t feel deeply invested in the characters as people, the emotional beats didn’t hit as hard as they should have.

I was also disappointed by the themes. I picked this up hoping it would have something new or especially nuanced to say about culture, race, religion, masculinity, friendship, and being brown in the West. There are flashes of that book here, and those flashes are genuinely exciting. But too often it falls back on familiar ideas without deepening them in a way that changed how I thought or felt. The most interesting material, for me, was the stuff around family, religion, and cultural inheritance, but those parts felt so brief and unexplored compared to the less convincing traditional drama around the characters that we've gotten in thousands of books before.

That said, I don’t want to make this sound like a failure. It’s not. It is bold, formally inventive, and often beautifully written. The shifting POVs and structural choices were interesting, and there is a looseness and riskiness to the book that I admired. It does feel like Salam is trying to write something only he could write, and I respect that a lot. The world and atmosphere are also strong; when the book is at its best, it captures a subculture and emotional register I haven’t seen much in contemporary fiction.

But admiration and enjoyment are different things. I admired the originality, the prose, and the ambition. I just didn’t feel much. For me, this was a frustrating read: an incredible premise, genuinely standout prose, and moments of real freshness, but ultimately weakened by flat characters, uneven pacing, and emotional beats that felt more manufactured than earned.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Immy's just out here tryna have a fun night out, their last one as proper boys-boys, before this brother gets hitched and that brother moves to the big smoke. existential ones, get me? but f---, man, it's unavoidable, a wounding tingle all down his fingertips - bare demons approaching the contours of his skin, threatening to erupt... to talk, to talk, to talk-
working up the courage, been working it up since quivering fingers sent text-boats out into the wilds of the whatsapp sea that spiky morning of:
i got something to talk to you man about
something kinda deep
within seconds, unsent text-boats out, recalling his call to action, delete for everyone, thank you very much! but now, but here, driver's seat where he don't gotta face the boys, Immy's thinking: aha! this is where a brother might just commit! this is where it can be exposed, that most crepuscular truth regarding glints of pain shored deep within his penumbral heart. mumblings and crumblings of heartbreak, of rage, of-

 
This book featured in the 2026 version of the influential and frequently literary-prize-prescient annual Observer Best Debut Novelist feature.  It was also (in its first 5000 words) the 2024 Winner of the Merky Books New Writer’s Prize which the author said (in the Observer interview) allowed him the confidence to writer as audaciously as possible – which comes across strongly in this debut set along and around Manchester’s Curry Road (a stretch of Wilmslow Road which gives the book the first part of its title) and featuring three early-mid 20s English Muslim friends-since-school (the boys of the second part of the title) across the single night across which the book takes place – a night which is imbued with portent from the very first brief chapter.
 
Crucially to the novel’s conception behind their outward bravado the three friends all have their own inner demons they are dealing with – battles at first largely hidden from the others (although each opens up as the night progresses) and at times processed only externally; something which makes this deliberately messy examination of masculinity a mix of the confrontational and the confessional, friendship and fragility, violence and vulnerability.
 
The three are: Immy – motivated by rage which goes beyond the devastating break up of a relationship to which he was deeply committed, but instead is amplified by the role played in that break up by his closest other friend; Khan – a Cambridge graduate about to move to London for a well-paid consulting job but who starts the trip by trying to clear up the aftermath of the drug debts of his late brother, in a manner which then has huge repercussions for the rest of the night; Haris – very shortly to be married but clearly having second thoughts for reasons which become clearer over time (he is also dealing with a recent episode where he was effectively expelled from his nuclear family after renouncing his faith, only to reluctantly come back).
 
And crucial to its execution is the hugely vibrant (a vibrancy which works well with the vulnerability of its protagonists and violence of some of their actions) and cacophonous as well as cinematic writing style with:

A supporting cast list which includes a fourth-wall breaking narrator, and three prophet like figures who both enter the novel as characters and in an interlude each sing an adapted version of Wonderwall about their respective boyz;
 
Language which borrow widely from street-slang, rap, cultural references, literature (Joyce a strong inspiration)
 
All in an explicit attempt to reinvent the novel form – an ambitious attempt which I think largely lands and should make this a very strong Goldsmith Prize contender, a very likely feature on debut and young writer novel lists (the Waterstones and Dylan Thomas Prizes in particular) and with even the Booker longlist a possibility.

My thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I teach High School age and work with multi-cultural college age students through a non-profit organization. With that background, I loved the dialogue in “Wimmy Road Boyz” for the most part. I found myself laughing at how many times I had heard some of the phrases that will probably have some readers scratching their heads.

The only part of the dialogue that I wasn’t familiar with was those pertaining to the Muslim culture. I have worked with quite a few Muslim students, but they typically do not reference things like in this novel. But it isn’t to the point that it would keep someone from reading the book. You just may not understand some of the phrasing or words used.

Now, the part that did take me out, this novel is drawn out. You could have easily cut 25 pages, and the story would have benefited. Ultimately, the story really doesn’t truly go anywhere until the Immy/Naz story progresses.

There are dynamics among the friends and their lives that are emotional, but do not confuse this book with being at the level of “The Outsiders” by any means.

“Wimmy Road Boyz” is a meandering tale that would have benefitted from being shorter and getting to the point a little bit sooner.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

2.5 stars out of 5

[Abbie Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Wimmy Road Boyz’ is uniquely written and utterly propulsive, a gritty explosive novel of male friendship, religion and desire. Absolutely cinematic, expertly crafted and, above all else, completely captivating.

Though a certain range of intensity runs throughout the novel, Salam most impressively, with his playful narrative structure (think scripts, peppered poetry and interviews) retained my piqued interest throughout. Never once did I bore of the many question marks hanging above the charming cast of characters heads. This intensity only propels you further, deeper into a knowingly tragic spiral of events.

There are many moments in ‘Wimmy Road Boyz’ where philosophy, whether that be on desire vs love, security and masculinity or race, take place on a cultural stage you don’t often see taking centre stage. A distilled population of South Asian and Middle Eastern residents to Rusholme, Manchester. This book reminded me why reading is so special, and so important. To bear witness to other people’s lives and experiences unfolding before you.

I just absolutely loved my time reading this novel, and will absolutely be looking forward to any future novels Sufiyaan Salam may wish to publish.

[Robyn Dawes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing this review, currently sobbing, haven’t stopped sobbing for the last hour.

I have rated this book 5 stars which I don’t think I have for any book yet, I can only urge people to go and pick this up and have a read.

I’m trying to gather some of my thoughts together lol - so I thought the book was absolute genius I was crying with laughter at points then actually crying then laughing again. I loved the writing, shifting from prose to script to poetry, words literally darting around the page and never knowing what’s next, it made the book feel electric. I couldn’t put it down.

Immy, Khan and Haris, you just want them to be happy and I felt so protective over them and their feelings. In the book you get to submerge into their feelings - vulnerability, anger, love, fear, revenge, all wrapped up in complicated notions of relationships, religion, sexuality and masculinity.

Sufiyaan Salam has made a book so current and exciting and fresh and devastating and I think everyone should give it a read, especially if you are a young guy. Wow, what a debut absolute legend you are Sufiyaan you are right, you ate with this one🔥🔥

Also that last chapter wtf if I think about it I’ll keep crying lol

[Jamad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set over the course of one chaotic night on Manchester’s Curry Mile, Wimmy Road Boyz follows Immy, Naz and Pakeeza as they career through the city chasing distraction, revenge, love and escape. Beneath the bravado and banter, all three are carrying their own fears and disappointments, and as the night spirals further out of control it becomes clear that something darker is lurking underneath it all.

There is no denying the inventiveness of the book. The dialogue crackles with energy and the author creates three memorable characters in Immy, Naz and Pakeeza. Even when the plot wandered, I still found myself interested in spending time with them. There are flashes of real wit and originality throughout.

For me though, the novel badly needed tightening up. The pacing felt very uneven, with some sections dragging on far too long while others rushed past. The heavy use of slang also became exhausting after a while and often pulled me out of the story rather than immersing me in it. At times it felt more concerned with style and energy than narrative momentum.

There is talent here and plenty of ambition, but in the end I found it a rambling and overlong read

[abi slade · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5⭐️

pros ✅
- conceptually interesting, i liked that it was all set over the course of one evening
- appreciated the mixed media, bits of script, poetry, the imagined interviews with the guardian were fun
- the plot with immy / naz / pakeeza (that only really came to fruition in the last 75 pages) was the highlight

cons ❌
- i was reading this for A WHOLE WEEK. this felt like fucking ages. i was at no point reaching for it and was consistently prioritising other hobbies
- terrible pacing
- i didn’t gel with the writing style at all, it was far too rambly and full of specific slang that i couldn’t focus or follow what was going on really. i do think that someone else could potentially really love this book because of the style, but it just didn’t work for me
- too many POVs
- at no point did i feel like i got “in” to it
- my overwhelming feeling was that of boredom
- so relieved to be done with it

[Nicole Wootton-Cane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to give this anything but five stars. Salam’s absolutely infectious, energetic, frantic, chaotic writing takes you inside the minds of three young Asian men in Manchester and drops you in the buzz of curry mile. I loved so much about this - not least that it placed itself in a Manchester I know and adore, but also the frenetic, stream of consciousness way the story is told, the way the tale reveals itself to you over one night, and the tiny specks of detail that bring the whole, crushing thing to life. There was the odd bit I didn’t really think worked - turning the narrative into an Oasis song at one point didn’t really get me - but on the whole I thought this was something really special.

[Kel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wimmy Road Boys is a genuinely original novel with some beautiful writing and a strong sense of place. The author does a great job of capturing a particular world and voice, and it felt very different from anything else I’ve read recently.

My only real criticism is that a few scenes felt longer than they needed to be, which occasionally slowed the pacing. The book is also heavy on local slang and dialect, which adds authenticity but may be challenging for readers who aren’t familiar with that way of life.

That said, I really admired what the author was trying to do and found the writing memorable throughout. I’ll definitely be interested to see what they write next.

4 stars.

[Farzana · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve ever wondered what runs through the minds of twenty‑something year old Muslim men, then read this book.

The religious and cultural references give the story an added layer of authenticity—those subtle 'reminders' are ever‑present in real life.

It captured the differences in the way that the male and female brain reflect — Haris's "it was standard."

I enjoyed the writing overall—especially the piss‑stop and the kidnapping scenes —but I did feel that a few sections lasted longer than necessary.

And truly, hats off to the Pakeezas of the world, who refuse to let the wrongdoing of others dictate the course of their lives.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the advance copy.