From the author of the 'great' (Dolly Alderton), 'terrific' (Zadie Smith) The New Me, comes a subversive, hilarious portrait of two colleagues, each more like the other than they would care to admit.

From the author of the 'great' (Dolly Alderton), 'terrific' (Zadie Smith) The New Me, comes a subversive, hilarious portrait of two colleagues, each more like the other than they would care to admit.

'Wretchedly riveting' Jia Tolentino, New Yorker

'Butler is an essential contemporary voice' Literary Hub

'A master of writing about work and its discontents' The Millions

Megan is only twenty-four but her life feels like a dead end. Working as a gastroenterologist's receptionist and resenting the success and happiness of her friends, the only thing that makes her feel better is obsessively critiquing the behaviour of her colleague, Jillian. A grotesquely optimistic thirty-five-year-old single mother, Jillian's chirpy positivity obscures her mounting struggles - until her downfall is precipitated by the purchase of a dog . . .

'Outrageous and amusing ... reads like rubbernecking or a junk-food binge, compelling a horrified fascination and bleak laughter' Kirkus

'The funniest book I've read in a long time, but also one of the most important ones' The Rumpus