World Productions options Lalwani's third novel for TV

Man Booker-longlisted author Nikita Lalwani’s third book, You People, has been optioned for TV by World Productions. The deal with producer Jake Lushington was brokered by Luke Speed at The Curtis Brown Group.

You People will be published by Viking UK on 2nd April 2020. The novel will also be published in the US later this year by McSweeney's. 

You People explores the world of Pizzeria Vesuvio and its proprietor Tuli, who uses his south London restaurant to provide essential (but barely legal) services to those in need. Nia, haunted by her troubled past, is running from her family. Shan, having fled the Sri Lankan civil war, is desperate to find his. These two lost souls are drawn into Tuli’s orbit. But when his mysterious operation begins to unravel, each is faced with an impossible human dilemma.

Lushington said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Nikita on adapting her ground-breaking novel. You People is a rare thing: a fresh and urgent story of the struggles and realities asylum seekers face in an ethnically diverse and thriving London.”

Lalwani added: “You People is a book about the moral choices we face in contemporary Britain, and I can't think of anyone better placed to dramatise it. It's genuinely thrilling to be working with World.”