Lume Books to publish 'secrets of flight attendant'

Lume books has acquired Saskia Swann’a new book, Above and Beyond: Secrets of a Private Flight Attendant. The book is co-authored by journalist Nicola Stow. 

Lume Books acquired UK and Commonwealth English language rights for paperback and ebook from the Andrew Lownie Agency. 

Above and Beyond is a anonymised vocational memoir. In 2003, "Saskia Swann" was struggling to pay off her credit card bills through her temping job, trying to stave off a compulsive shopping habit and wondering how to turn her life around. Then, by a chance encounter, she was offered a £45,000-a-year job as a private flight attendant. 

Hired to work on a Russian oligarch’s Airbus, Saskia was propelled into the glittering, clandestine and seemingly lawless world of corporate flying, where the hostesses wear Prada, in-flight meals consist of seven courses served on fine bone china, bodyguards carry guns, and mile-high shenanigans take place inside luxury bedrooms—and occasionally in the cabin. 

Swann said: “I’m so excited to share my behind-the-scenes account of what it’s like to be a private flight attendant. From the highs to the lows—although we attendants wear Prada, we still have to scrub the lavs—this book gives a true portrayal of the anything-goes business of corporate aviation.”

Lume commissioning editor Alice Rees added: “From the moment I picked up Saskia’s memoir I was hooked. Of course, the world of private flying is one that most people can only dream of, but with this book you’re invited to observe it all, from the cockpit to the cabin and beyond…"