Canongate ties up Animals

Canongate has signed world rights to a new novel, Animals, by Emma Jane Unsworth.

Publishing director Francis Bickmore and assistant editor Joanna Dingley signed world English rights from Clare Conville at Conville & Walsh.

The book follows flatmates Laura and Tyler who enjoy drinking and putting the world to rights, a situation thrown off balance when Laura becomes engaged to teetotal Jim, a plan Tyler is intent on sabotaging.

Bickmore said: "It has the brazen honesty of Girls and Bridesmaids, and the quotable wit of Withnail and I. What more could you rightfully ask of a novel?"

Unsworth has previously won a Betty Trask Award for her first novel, Hungry, the Stars and Everything (Hidden Gem 2011).