I Want You to Be Happy

A tender, witty, and sharp debut novel about the passions and peculiarities of modern love, by "an extraordinarily gifted writer" (Sally Rooney).

Chuck and Joey meet in a bar. He's in his mid-thirties; she's twelve years younger. He long ago abandoned his ambition of being a novelist and works as a copywriter at a big ad agency. "Lead copywriter," he corrects himself. Joey is living 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 is imagining a future between them and Chuck is moving on from a mistake in his recent past. Amazing, how meeting a new person can make you feel so new.

Funny, excruciating, and true, Jem Calder's 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 still trying.

Author: Jem Calder
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 07/14/2026
Pages: 272
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.60w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780374620554