John Murray signs debut Irish novelist Rory Gleeson

John Murray has acquired an "inventive and gripping" debut, Rockadoon Shore, by young Irish novelist Rory Gleeson.

Mark Richards, publisher at John Murray, bought world rights from Lucy Luck of Aiken Alexander Associates, for John Murray to publish in hardback in January 2017.

Rockadoon Shore is said to be about "the realities of growing up and growing old in modern-day Ireland". it follows six university friends who go to stay at Rockadoon Lodge for a weekend away in the wilds of west Ireland. But the weekend doesn't go to plan – watched over by a neighbouring farmer, long-submerged tensions boil over in a way that will change all of their lives.

Publishers promise it will be "highly energetic and tensely humorous", heralding a "new and exciting" voice in contemporary Irish fiction.

Richards said: "Rockadoon Shore is both a hugely enjoyable exploration of a crucial and bittersweet moment in youth, and a masterclass in free indirect style: the revolving narration takes you inside the heads of a group of superficially similar but brilliantly-delineated characters. Rory Gleeson is a frighteningly talented writer, at any age – let alone the 24 he was when he wrote the book, or the 27 he is now – and I’m hugely looking forward to introducing his debut novel. He’s a writer who’s here to stay.”

Richards was also responsible for breaking Irish fiction debut Lisa McInerney, who scooped both the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction and the Desmond Elliott Prize for The Glorious Heresies (John Murray) that this week was optioned for TV by Fifty Fathoms.