Fieldwork As A Sex Object: From the Women's Prize-shortlisted author of When I Hit You

by Meena Kandasamy

'I mute the audio before replaying it frame by frame. I watch the video four times.

'It is not me. It is my fucking face.'


'It would take Carol Ann Duffy, Arundhati Roy and Salman Rushdie to match her infinite variety' - The Independent

'One of fiction's most fiery and unclassifiable polemicists' - The Guardian

'The first thing that strikes you with Kandasamy, if you have not read her before, is that she has a feather-light touch and yet complete control' - The Asian Age

'A fearless fighter for human rights' - PEN Germany

'Kandasamy's prose is electric, at once brave and poetic and satirical'- The Paris Review

Amrita Chaturvedi--Amy in her London circles--identifies as a communist on Twitter, but her bio omits any mention of her privileged life back in Delhi and a stint on reality TV.

When a scandalous deepfake video featuring her suddenly goes viral, the truth catches up with Amy. Overnight, she becomes a trending hashtag, hunted by right-wing trolls, betrayed by friends and family.

As the media frenzy explodes and legal persecution looms on the horizon, Amy must, with some support from unlikely allies, find a way to stem the public hysteria and overcome the onslaught. But does she really have a chance?

Raw and unsparing, Meena Kandasamy's Fieldwork as a Sex Object is a searing exploration of caste, misogyny, sex, sexuality and the insecurities that drive people to do what they do. In the end, it asks each one of us how much we're prepared to risk for our principles.

Audible Audio

Published July 11, 2026

About the author

Dr Meena Kandasamy FRSL is a poet and provocateur who has spent two decades triggering the far right. She’s been translated into over 20 languages.

Her previous novel, When I Hit You, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize, Jhalak Prize and Hindu Literary Prize. It was also Book of the Year in the Financial Times, Observer, Daily Telegraph and Irish Times. Her poetry collection, Ms Militancy, went viral across South Asia. In 2022, PEN Germany awarded her a medal for being ‘a fearless fighter for human rights.’

Meena has two sons. Her new novel, Fieldwork as a Sex Object, is out now.

Reviews

[Ashikha N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toward the end I became desensitized and I haven't felt that kind of numbness from reading a book in a long while. I also relate to her attitude toward the sensitive Gen Z.

[Shreya Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

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