Michael Joseph scoops Channel 4’s Jones’ ‘heart-warming’ début

Michael Joseph has scooped Call Time, the "heart-warming" debut novel from television presenter Steve Jones. 

Rowland White, publishing director, acquired world rights, excluding Canada and the US, from Paul Stevens at Independent Talent. The novel will be published on 11th May 2023. 

Jones is a Channel 4 reporter and the "face of F1", reporting on Grand Prix from around the world. 

White said: "From page one Call Time grabbed me with the sheer energy and verve of the writing, then didn’t let go. Taking an entertainingly inventive premise as a start, Steve has crafted a debut novel that’s moreishly readable, funny, cleverly plotted and populated by a rich cast of characters. Ultimately, though – and for all the fun to be had along the way – Call Time is a story of loss, hope and redemption. I love it and know readers will fall for it too."

Jones added: "I couldn’t be more excited that my debut novel Call Time is going to be published by Penguin Michael Joseph. I’m now at the point where I am drawing blood from the amount of times I have pinched myself. As a TV presenter, I have always been heavily involved in the scripting process of the shows I’ve been part of. I love to read and I love to write. So when an idea for a story fell into my lap I felt the moment had come to see if there was a book inside me. Thanks to countless long-haul flights and lonely hotel rooms around the world, courtesy of Formula 1, I was gifted the time I needed to write Call Time."