Life at a bookstore in LA through the eyes of a cynical English bookseller - irascible, witty and darkly humourous at his own expense and that of his unfortunate customers

A PARIS REVIEW BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Highly accomplished, deeply satisfying ... I marked up almost every page' TLS 'Laugh-out-loud funny' DAILY MAIL 'My favourite nihilistic romantic' RACHEL KUSHNER What's this book about? Is there a restroom? Do you have gluten-free bagels? Do you work here? Do you have a restroom? Do I buy books or rent books or what? Sean knows that the worst thing about a bookshop is the customers. Then there's the gift-wrapping, the invoicing, the Yelp reviews. The overwhelming sense of self-loathing after another day of not writing a novel yourself. While Sean's book remains unfinished, his city has changed around him. As have friends and acquaintances, at least the ones who keep in touch. The service industry is different, too. But what, or whom, is he serving anyway?

"A winning mix of scabrous workplace comedy and mischievous metafiction" - Observer

"Savage, furious, hilarious and melancholic all at once" - Financial Times

"A wicked sense of humour" - The New York Times

"Entertaining and surprisingly inventive ... a novel that reaches beyond itself" - Irish Times

"Highly accomplished, deeply satisfying ... I marked up almost every page for the zingers, the takedowns and the memorable sad man lit bantz" - TLS

"Full of whipsmart lines on the drudgery of retail, the futility of art and the hateful lifestyles of hipsters, Service is laugh-out-loud funny and nearly always bang-on true" - Daily Mail

"A bleakly funny read" - Crack

"Hilarious... A book about the destruction of bohemia and the nightmare of trying to live--let alone make art--with very little money." - The New York Review of Books

"Acerbic, misanthropic and surprisingly funny" - Sunday Post

"Hilarious, refreshingly mean-spirited and often brilliant" - Washington Post

"This gritty, bleak, nihilistic, yet darkly funny, novel contains more insight into bookseller life than the many dozens of other contemporary novels on the subject" - Lit Hub

"The funniest novel about thwarted literary ambitions and professional jealousy since Amis' The Information" - Buzz Mag

"Quite some achievement, taking wit, humour and sharp observational powers" - Strong Words