Viral. [PROOF COPY]

Sperling, Matthew

ISBN 10: 152940195X / ISBN 13: 9781529401950

Published by riverrun, 2020

About this Item

Proof copy. Presentation from the author on the title page (ink line crossed through printed name), "with all good wishes, M.2020." Paperback. Slight coffee cup stain in the rear covers and very slight rubbing at spine, otherwise close very good with clean text.

Seller Inventory # 329

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Viral. [PROOF COPY]
• Publisher: riverrun
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 152940195X
• ISBN 13: 9781529401950
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

'Clever and compelling' Luke Jennings
'Viral is a vicious delight' Sam Byers
'Nobody else could capture the tragedy, transience and absurdity of modern life quite like this' Andrew McMillan

Meet Ned and Alice: internet entrepreneurs with a delightfully demagnetised moral compass.

In Berlin, their combined talents have brought social media start-up, The Thing Factory, to the verge of lucrative success.

But Ned - a businessman with a history of shady dealings - is unhappy at his increasing lack of control in the company.

When he launches a new app designed to 'Uberize' the escort industry, he finds himself treading in murky waters, having disturbed the fabric of Berlin's underbelly. As his anxieties become harder to ignore, Alice's ambitions are meanwhile tempting her to jettison her own principles for a turn at the wheel...

Both a satire on the social media age and a fast-paced suspense novel, Viral is a nimble commentary on power and control, the lengths people will go to acquire both, and what is at stake when personality and sex are tradable commodities.

About the Author

Matthew Sperling was born in Kent in 1982. He lives in London and is a lecturer in English Literature at UCL. His writing has been published in the Guardian, the New Statesman, 1983, Prospect, 3:AM, The Junket, and Best Britsish Short Stories 2015. His debut novel, Astroturf, was longlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize 2019.