4th Estate pre-empts 'love letter to rave' from Graeme Armstrong in 'hotly contested race'

4th Estate has pre-empted a "love letter to rave" from one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists Graeme Armstrong in a "hotly contested race".

Michelle Kane, PR and publishing director at 4th Estate, pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to Raveheart from Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency. Publication is scheduled for spring 2026 and Warp Films has optioned the TV/film rights.

The novel follows William Patterson – better known as DJ Turbo – living his "soulless" existence after living after his glory days as resident spinner at a local Coatbridge ice rink, The Time Capsule, were snatched from him. A far-right UK regime enters power, and the "The New Greatest Britishest Party" cracks down on youth, culture, drugs and electronica.

The synopsis continues: "Incensed by a blanket ban of their beloved tunes, Turbo and his comrades launch a rave revolt – resurrecting the illegal warehouse parties of the past in this new darker, monolithic Greatest Britain, as a powerful act of resistance.

"But, as the political situation escalates and secret police surveil every corner of society, Turbo and his troops fly ever closer to the sun in the dangerous world of the anti-rave abolitionist paramilitary."

The publisher describes it as "hilarious, tragic and incredibly clever all at once".

Armstrong said: "I feel lucky to have both my dream imprint at 4th Estate and editor, Michelle Kane, at the helm on this fever dream of a novel which has taken the best bit of a decade to create. While the majority of my work on the page, screen and community deals with hard-hitting social themes, Raveheart speaks to the pure joy of rave culture we experienced first-hand in its mid-2000s renaissance in Scotland, and to an ever-more challenging world beyond. The incredible heritage of Scottish rave pioneers before us, combined with our generation’s bedroom bootlegging PCDJ craze made for years of endless energy, pure passion and mad memories. These are the nostalgic driving forces of Raveheart."