I Want You to Be Happy

by Jem Calder

'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.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Adult, Adult Fiction

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 19, 2026

Reviews

[leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

a love story for the digital age or a cautionary tale - maybe both?

really enjoyed this! such a sharp, poignant examination of modern relationships and loneliness. will write a full review soon.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

really really good stuff. chuck you insufferable piece of shit

[Kennedy Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

the horrors of being 23 years old

thank you netgalley and fsg for the digital arc!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I delved right into this hoping it might fill a Sally Rooney-shaped hole (she is after all an admirer of Calder's writing). Whilst I wouldn't put this up there with Rooney's novels just yet, there is no doubt that Jem Calder is a writer to watch and this is a really promising debut novel.

We follow Chuck, mid 30's, who works as a lead copy writer, and has just recently split from his fiance. He soon meets Joey, a 20-something aspiring poet who works in a coffee shop. Despite the prominent age gap and both of them being at very different stages in their lives, the two are drawn to each other.

First off, Chuck is a highly unlikeable character. And I don't mean the kind we love to hate. Whilst you can sympathise with the fact that he is clearly mentally going through a lot right now and has a drinking problem, he's also just a bit of a dick who doesn't treat Joey particularly well. Joey is disappointingly not as fleshed out as Chuck's character, but you can't help but root for her. Unusually for this kind of novel - a microscopic look at an all too real modern day relationship - I never once wanted them to be together. They felt like a mismatch from the outset and I couldn't see what either of them was getting from the other. And although it leaves you feeling a bit odd and unsettled to not be rooting for your two main characters to make it, I have to applaud Calder for doing just that.

It's uncomfortably honest, extremely awkward, and so rooted in our modern world that it's enough to make you feel a little bit sick.

If you like novels about messy feelings and relationships, about writers, those with dreams and those who fail, then this is for you.

[Sian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t feel like I was reading the same book as the reviews as I found this depiction incredibly sad of 2 people living mediocre unhappy lives where they felt trapped. I enjoyed their coming together and the mismatch of their feelings but the unlikeable character of Chuck did jar my enjoyment of the book overall.

[suzannah ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so real ! If you ever need a book to painfully describe the woes of being a young 20 something and the delusion and optimism around first loves with (usually) emotionally unavailable men then this is the book for you !!!

This so much in this and it’s written with a brevity that is enviable. Could be any one’s life and it’s not corny or overwrought.

My only criticism is towards the end it felt unbalanced content wise in favour of Chuck. I would have liked to have been with Joey a bit longer than the last pages that almost rushes her inner thoughts?

I’m even tempted to say I want to know how things end with these people but I reckon the beauty of this book is dealing with life and it’s unknowns head on so I will carry that forward 💙

BRAVA miss Calder!!! Can’t wait to push this book at work

[Lucy Skeet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks so much to Faber for my copy, really enjoyed this one

[vineeta · Rating 5 out of 5]

ijbol king!

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Class book, that

[Lauren Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honest, relatable and hilarious story of the current dating scene in the digital age. As a girl in her 20s who’s single and navigating the dating scene this was so relatable!!

[Mim · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun

[alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

highly readable and vividly real, I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY is a sharp portrait of modern relationships and our increasing isolation in a digital-first world

this might be a bit of a marmite book; if you like the cover, i think you’ll like reading this - contemporary, hyper-specific while maintaining distance, a little tongue-in-cheek about its own predictability

i was rooting for Joey, resenting Chuck as i know i was supposed to. it can be very hard to make phone usage in books feel genuine and be interesting, but this was accurate and amusing. i’m looking forward to reading more by Jem Calder

thank you very much for Faber & NetGalley for the ARC!

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book featured in the 2026 version of the influential and frequently literary-prize-prescient annual Observer Best Debut Novelist feature. 
 
The author has previously published a short story collection “Reward System” (2022) –an entertaining series of interlocking short stories (one almost a novella) showcasing a fresh and talented new voice and set in a the lives of a group of 20 somethings who live in an unspecified but clearly London-inspired large City and work in the hospitality/advertising industry under the financial tyranny of the intersection of high rent and low pay/long hour jobs.  The stories differed in their main focus and often fairly innovative style – but with two main characters a female chef at a trend restaurant and her one time college boyfriend Nick – now in rather a funk with an alcohol/self respect problem and working in a dead end job as a copywriter for an advertising/media agency where he tries to write stories when no one is looking (the latter part only an auto-fictional detail).
 
In the Observer feature we read that Calder was “interested in the idea of a romantic comedy where, in the margins of the text, one of the characters is basically having a complete nervous breakdown”  - and (in the words of the article) that this debut novel “born out of a sense that he’d been overly simplistic in portraying a toxic age-gap affair in “Reward System” …  this time, he sought to pull readers in two directions at once, compelling you to root for [the] relationship, even as it makes us wince”.
 
The set up of what is a very recent year (post Queen death) London (eventually named = although the City for much of the novel) is of a nascent relationship between two people – Joey (aged 23) and Chuck (in his mid 30s although appearing closer to 40 to Joey and her friends) – who meet in a bar and start sleeping together, mainly at the spacious flat that Chuck until recently occupied with his long-term (to Joey almost half her lifetime) girlfriend and eventual fiancée).  
 
Chuck is a copywriter – senior copywriter to be precise – although the career trajectory he describes early on to Joey is at seeming odds with the way he appears to be sidelined from a lucrative new client contract.  Joey has only ever worked in coffee shops.  Both aspire to writing – Chuck to experimental autofiction (if experimental in a rather predictable way) and Joey to poetry (albeit her best and only published poems were years before).  And both seem to be struggling – Chuck we quickly ascertain (more quickly than Joey) with alcohol, Joey with a feeling that everyone her age is starting some form of career while still flounders (and struggles with an overdraft and a shared-flat). Perhaps predictably Joey is more committed to the relationship.
 
I have to say that – while remaining an entertaining voice – the novel felt perhaps a little too conventional compared to the freshness of the short stories; and my other main issue was that unlike the implication of the novel I was rooting throughout for the relationship to falter and for Joey to wake up to Chuck, and Chuck wake up to himself – and that felt like a fundamental barrier to a true appreciation (and wider than just the industry/age/cultural difference that I felt might have been a hindrance with his short stories).  I did enjoy though the opening of a famous bakery/coffee shop near Joey’s employment as a storyline and though the line “Rummaging in her bag for a tissue and finding only a Gail’s branded napkin, she despaired for her future” was close to peak South-East millennial fiction.
 

What began as an admittedly self-indulgent but nevertheless still fairly restrained cry, lamenting the loss of her love—or, more accurately, the failed possibility of love; her heart’s stupidity, fixating on an emotionally unavailable man …. soon escalated into a fit of uncontrollable sobbing; an entirely different type of cry that encompassed all the other crushing degradations of her life. In fact, after walking only a short distance from the bar, she found she actually had to remind herself of the original reason for her crying; that inciting incident having already been overtaken by a succession of dire, intermittently existential worries, including: rent, bills, and council tax she couldn’t afford; the professional world of industries and careers where she felt she would never belong; the environment; having to work so hard just to live a life that’s miserable; the effort every day of simply trying to be undepressed—I can’t do it. And no one likes my poems, she thought, pathetically, and then her own patheticness made her cry even harder.

 
My thanks to Faber for an ARC via NetGalley
 

[Brittany (whatbritreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Thank you to Faber for sending me an early copy of this to review!*

This book sounded like everything I usually love in literary fiction. And it was. The only problem? It was deeply unoriginal, and reading it was giving me deja vu. I feel like this has been done a million times before, but better, and with characters I actually cared about.

From the get go I identified that the writing wasn’t really my cup of tea, it’s quite glaringly obvious that this is a man in his mid thirties trying to emulate a woman in her early twenties and failing miserably. It gave me a little bit of second hand embarrassment trying to get through those bits. It was also extremely on the nose in a way that felt like the author was doing a self insert with the male protagonist, which felt extremely awkward once identified. The whole woe is me struggling writer who has depression and alcoholism stuff that broke the fourth wall made me cringe. It just came across as the author having a grandiose sense of how clever and witty his writing is with the self deprecating humour employed, but it not actually being all that impressive.

It was fine on the whole, if a little dull. It’s just like two people in London living a repetitive life stuck in the cycle of capitalism being a bit miserable and lonely. Man in his 30s meeting struggling girl in her early 20s and promises her the world, only to fuck her up a little bit in the process and be completely unbearable to be in the head of. It was just so bland and uninspiring. If I'd have cared about or developed a connection to either of the characters along the way, maybe I’d have felt differently about it, but nothing was drawing me in. The characters felt extremely flat and predictable. Because I didn't care about them as individuals, I certainly couldn’t have cared less about them together really either. We’re introduced to their relationship so quickly and the book is so short, that the entire thing just feels like a very rushed whirlwind of (boring) events. It feels like there was no point to this book, and the storyline arc starts and ends in the same pointless place.

After the deeply pointless rigmarole of the entire thing, the ending was extremely abrupt and unsatisfying. It really did piss me off that Chuck got to be miserable and string along this poor woman for the entire book only to randomly go back to his ex after all??? I just didn't get the point. And because everything felt so surface-level, it didn’t entirely make sense how we even really got there. It was such an eye roll moment for me turning those final pages.

It’s not bad per se, but it did annoy me. It will have an audience, but it isn’t me, and if I’m being candid I’m shocked it’s Sally Rooney. Lol.

[Janine R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Want You To Be Happy
Jen Calder

Advance copy via NetGalley
Thank you to both NetGalley and publisher, Faber and Faber, for granting permission for me to read this in exchange for a review.

This is a story centred around an age-gap relationship, though the gap itself isn’t especially extreme. Having had similar experiences in my younger years—and now, decades later, looking back with a certain amount of cringe and embarrassment at how I once justified those dynamics—I read this with a sense of inevitability about how things might unfold.

Age-gap relationships can work, but in my experience they are rare, and often tied up with ego, unresolved issues, and at times an undercurrent of misogyny.

There are moments in the writing that elevate this into something more literary, with lines that linger and invite reflection. I did find myself occasionally unsure about the punctuation, though I assumed any irregularities were intentional and reflective of the character’s psychological state.

The premise itself isn’t entirely new: a man who is, in many ways, running from himself, using alcohol and distraction to avoid any real confrontation with his emotional life. A chance meeting leads to a connection with Joey, who is younger—not naive, but still finding her footing in relationships. She is drawn not just to him, but to what he seems to represent: stability, experience, success, a kind of formed identity. In contrast, she begins to question her own position in the world.

What I found particularly interesting is that neither of them are fully themselves within the relationship. Joey holds back parts of her voice, things she thinks but doesn’t say. He, on the other hand, remains emotionally closed, resistant to any real depth or vulnerability.

Both characters are intellectually inclined—interested in books, writing, poetry—which adds an additional layer to their dynamic, especially in how they see themselves and each other.

For me, the emotional trajectory of the story felt quite predictable, and that predictability shaped my overall experience. That said, it’s a very readable book—accessible, with enough texture in the language to occasionally pause and take something in.

I found myself conflicted by the way the emotional weight of the relationship plays out, particularly in how the younger character is left to process it. That may well reflect the reality of these kinds of dynamics, but it didn’t fully satisfy me as a reader.

Overall, this is a likeable, easy-to-read novel with moments of insight, though the central dynamic felt a little too familiar for me to fully connect with.

[Bee Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two tortured, unlikable artists at different phases of giving up; one who left their dreams behind for a corporate job, and one still holding onto the bohemian mess of a barista/poet life.

Despite their very different lives, Joey and Chuck find something in each other that they need, even if they aren't really sure what that is yet. Both of them have fallen prey to the chaos of modern society in a different way, in different tax brackets and experiences - but underneath it all was two messy people, desperate for connection and searching for joy in a world that wants them to just work and consume.

Both of them were chaotic, lonely, flawed, sometimes toxic people trying to muddle their way through life and it made for a complex love//hate relationship with them both. The spotlight mostly followed Chuck (it is a parody of reality, after all) but the third person, fly on the wall narration still gave us a chance to get into both of their minds with a stream-of-consciousness, thoughtful flow.

It's a story with no real plot, no typical structure or clear conclusion - just a directionless snapshot of life that made it rather compelling. Sometimes this style really works for me, sometimes it doesn't; while this wasn't perfect for me and I found it somewhat unsatisfying (yes, life can be unsatisfying so it's a good choice) it's still brilliantly written and if you love those books that feel like a thought experiment, you'll love this one.

It explores the power imbalances within relationships, the way we each have our own perceptions of the same things - how a relationship can be everything to someone and nothing to someone else, and just how isolating and confusing modern love can be in an increasingly connected but lonely world.

This is an ode to the creators, artists and creatives - an essential story about human connection, the desperate need to find meaning and the impossibility of feeling fulfilled in a world that doesn't want you to be.

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/4

Chuck and Joey meet by chance one night at a bar. Chuck is recovering from a bad break up, tired of his job and living in the flat he once shared with his girlfriend. His life feels in flux.

Joey is equally untethered, working as a barista for minimum wage - a job she likes but hardly keeps her challenged - living in a shared place in a tiny room with people she does not socialise with. She finds herself drawn to Chuck's quiet confidence and begins to wonder if the relationship could be something.

The story follows theirs as Joey begins to do more with the poetry she loves writing and reading and Chuck's job takes on new dimensions even as he dreams of a new life as a novelist.

The novel feels very true to life - no crazy highs or lows - just two people not sure about where they are going in life. Joey and Chuck could be any of us as we deal with different aspects of our lives as we grow older.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes a little introspection in a narrative. Both characters are interesting and Jem Calder manages to convey scenes and situations with the lightest of touches. I would like to read more by this writer.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the digital review copy.

[Ynaiita Warjri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Want You To Be Happy grips you initially with the interesting meet-cute between two people who seem very different from one another. The age gap sets expectations that there will be a bit of scandal and drama. But there is no controversy. While the book is set in the backdrop of an age gap relationship, it is not a romantic story. It is about loneliness, self confidence, career and navigating adulthood. Joey and Chuck are worlds apart—but both are quite hopeless. Their push-pull relationship dynamic not only mirrors their individual feelings towards themselves, but also echoed my feelings for the characters.

Chuck is not easy to love and Joey is simply just a child but both are trying to survive and seek solace from one another. But how do you love someone when you have not tried to love yourself? This book talks about that. It is a very simple read but is full of substance. I was rooting for them from rhe beginning but also struggled to keep my frustration at bay. I saw myself in both of these individuals and my heart broke for them many times, but it was also filled with hope and left a message that some people aren't meant to be with you forever but to keep you warm during the cold spells.

[Karen Farrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely a book that will appeal to the generation who don’t actually define their relationship status until they are actually living together or getting married!

That said it is the story of Chuck (Charles) who is mid thirties and Joey (age 23) who “hook up” after a night out. It is sometimes very funny, sometimes quite heartwarming and at others completely cringe. I think a lot of younger readers will see more in Chuck and Joey than I did. Although there were times I felt a little bit sorry for Chuck, most of the time I wanted to tell him to grow up, stop acting like a spoilt, entitled brat. As a mum I also wanted to look after him but more so Joey who deserved my sympathy more.

The story follows Chuck and Joeys “relationship, interaction with friend and colleagues.

I do think this will appeal to a younger generation who conduct their relationships in the same way as the characters.

[jorjee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrew O’Hagan & Sally Rooney… are you lying or is he blackmailing you?

Maybe he’s a good short story writer who couldn’t translate to a longer form but I am deeply underwhelmed by this book. I was definitely hooked at the start and I liked the tension building between the two characters, very evocative of noisy bar, awkwardness etc.
I just wasn’t convinced - two people trying to hide in each other but not really? Joey didn’t seem to have much development and Chuck was a loser.
Definitely some good snapshots of their relationship, interactions etc. Maybe should have been a series of short stories or something?
I think there were parts that were well-explored, the uncertainty of the first dates, their neediness, Chuck’s mundane depression but like… come on
The writing was so long for what!

[herdarklibrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sharp, quick and very enjoyable read! Crazy good for a debut novel and I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more from this author, can’t wait to see what comes next.

This book gave me me what I love most in books and that’s character work, no one is particularly likeable (Chuck I’m looking at you), which is my favourite type of character but they were real; problematic, rooted and true.

Although sometimes sad, I Want to Make You Happy really reflects the modern life complexities of relationships. That means lots ups and downs which I felt whole heartedly.

An all round great little book.

Release date: 21st May

[GIFTED - thankyou very much @faberbooks for the proof]

[Onceuponaplace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This got under my skin almost immediately. There's a Rooney-esque quality to it — that suffocating realism, the way it holds a mirror up to modern life and makes you a little nauseous — and I was completely absorbed.
Chuck and Joey make for a strange, melancholy pair. Two people drifting through lives that don't quite fit them, briefly gravitating toward each other without it ever feeling right. I found Chuck genuinely difficult to like rather than enjoyably so, and that tested my patience at times. Joey felt slightly shortchanged by comparison. Yet somehow the whole thing works — sad, honest, and strangely compelling.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NEtgalley for my ARC

[Emma Marsden · Rating 1 out of 5]

Chuck is insufferable,
Joey isn’t thrashed out as a character, naive and young.

It’s unlikeable character, stupid decisions and no plot at all. If that’s your kinda story you may well love this.
I liken it to conversations with friends by Sally Rooney (I know most people love that book, I did not). So perhaps this style of writing just isn’t for me.

I can generally get behind unlikeable characters if there’s something more to the story or other characters but this just fell flat for me.

This is a book about two miserable people who hate their lives having a very awkward relationship… I’m yet to see the real point of the book to be honest.

ARC copy supplied by Net Galley.

[Dipali · Rating 3 out of 5]

** A copy of I Want You to Be Happy was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review **

3.5

I Want You to Be Happy is Jem Calder’s debut novel about Chuck and Joey’s messy relationship/situationship, Calder focuses on the quiet, awkward and real moments as they try to figure out their lives individually and together. At times, I just wanted to shake them and tell them to make better choices, to be better people.

I look forward to Calder’s next, If you enjoy Sally Rooney’s introspective writing, I recommend this!

[Ira · Rating 4 out of 5]

“an agonisingly bittersweet comedy” but nothing about this was bittersweet or comedic. It wasn’t sad or tragic. It was rage bait actually.

Nothing monumental really happens. The story is centred around the relationship between two people, the solace they find in one another, their unbalanced dynamic and how this unfolds over time. It was almost disturbing- getting inside the head of Chuck as he toyed with Joey to try and cope with the consequences of his own decisions. Anyway, this story was infuriating at times but the writing was very compelling

I recommend :D

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. A lovely novel of a short affair. Joey has dreams of being a poet, but just squeaks by in life on her coffee shop salary. Chuck, twelve years older then her, had dreams of being a novelist, but has put them away to work as a copywriter in an ad agency. Like so many relationships in its first days, it gives each partner such a hopeful boost and a feeling of not being so alone in the world, but slowly the things you thought you could ignore in each other cause the whole thing to be examined in a more realistic way.

[Georgie Ambrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devoured this! A deeply realistic representation of modern dating, relationship anxious, loneliness and lack of direction young people face today. Couldn’t put it down, was unsettlingly mundane and intoxicating in a way where you feel part of the character’sthought process and feel deeply for them both. Only not 5 days as I thought Joeys character wasn’t as flushed out as Chucks and wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending. But otherwise no notes

[Tayla McCloud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very simply written and quick to read, but kind of sneaks up on you. I loved how the relationship unfolded in real time from both perspectives, so you could piece things together. Made me feel quite sad about male loneliness and modern relationships, and reminded me of Good Material.
3.5 rounded up bc I loved the modern London life references, the cover, and I’m still pondering it.
(Thank you HP <3)

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was asked to review this by NetGalley. Wow I loved the characters and this is modern dating, just how the modern world feels with lack of dIrection, relationship hang ups.

Interesting story of dating today and lonliness too. I have to say I so loved Chuck.

Recommended read but not due for publication till May 21 2026.