Fourth Estate snaps up 'wildly imaginative' debut from McGhee

Fourth Estate has snapped up a “wildly imaginative” debut workplace novel from Molly McGhee following an exclusive submission.

Publishing director Kishani Widyaratna acquired UK and Commonwealth (excluding Canada) rights, including physical, digital and audiobook, to Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind from Anna Carmichael at Abner Stein on behalf of Astra House publishers via 2 Seas Agency. World English rights were acquired by Danny Vazquez at Astra House, with Alessandra Bastagli now publishing. It will publish in the UK in February 2024.

The synopsis: “Jonathan Abernathy is a loser. Unemployed and behind on his student loan repayments, the only thing Abernathy has in abundance is debt. When a secretive government loan forgiveness programme offers him a job he can literally do in his sleep, he thinks he’s found his big break. Hired as a dream auditor, he finds himself entering the dreams of white-collar workers to flag their anxieties for removal at night so they’ll be more productive in the day. Soon, the lines between life and work, right and wrong, and even sleep and consciousness, have blurred and he begins to wonder just what he might have signed away.”

Widyaratna said: “Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is the creation of a uniquely imaginative, unflinching chronicler of modern life in debut novelist Molly McGhee. The novel is uncomfortably funny and thrillingly provocative not only in its commentary on labour, debt and capitalism but also in its moving exploration of loneliness and love. Our unlikely hero, Jonathan Abernathy, is an utterly hapless white-collar worker who all of us at Fourth Estate found impossible not to root for. How many readers will feel their cheeks flush with recognition as they laugh along at Abernathy’s haphazard progress? We can’t wait for readers to meet him and find out.”

McGhee said: “Kishani Widyaratna, in my humble opinion, is one of the best editors working today. To be able to collaborate with such a brilliant thinker and to work with Fourth Estate is an honour. I can’t imagine a better home for my poor hapless son, Jonathan.”

McGhee completed her MFA in fiction at Columbia University, where, in addition to receiving a Chair’s Fellowship, she taught in the undergraduate creative writing department. She has worked in the editorial departments of McSweeney’s, The Believer, NOON, and FSG. Currently living in Brooklyn, her work has appeared in the Paris Review.