Jem Calder: The Novel as a Gift

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Novelist Jem Calder joins Freya to talk about I Want You to Be Happy, his debut novel about two people trying to fall in love while everything around them is engineered to distract them. Jem’s writing career started with Sally Rooney emailing him about the first story he’d ever finished and now his debut is on the tote bag of every literary it girl this summer. He tells Freya why he’d rather write a novel than a memoir (he’s a self-described cagey person who doesn’t like giving too much of himself away) and why he thinks of fiction as a gift, something a reader can reach for in their worst moments. They chat about how quickly a good line about phones curdles into cliché, why he keeps thousands of words of notes he’ll almost never use and why writing within the constraints of a genre is a form of respect for the writers who came before.A funny, honest conversation between two writers about connection, cringe and what fiction is for.00:00:00 Introduction00:01:44 Book tour vs writing — the "spiritual maths" of promotion00:04:24 Why Reward System reads like a novel, not a story collection00:05:17 The novel-in-stories form and Tulathimutte's Rejection00:06:04 "Limbic capitalism" and the little treats of modern life00:09:26 Writing a love story when everything conspires against connection00:10:29 Writing cringe, and the brutal comedy of small humiliations00:12:08 Turning real life into fiction — the notes process00:13:41 The anxiety of being judged forever on your first book00:16:44 When readers over-read symbolism into your work00:18:15 Cringe as comedy, and fiction that makes you feel understood00:19:36 Why fiction, not memoir or autofiction00:22:38 The Cazalet Chronicles and reverence for the family saga00:26:32 Chuck as a version of Jem who took the other path00:27:41 Comedy as inspiration, and the sauna theatre reading00:30:25 Writing an unlikable character you still feel empathy for00:32:40 The likability question and his Financial Times essay00:39:30 Why he wouldn't want to adapt his own novel00:42:09 Annie Bake