Penguin Michael Joseph lands Austin Taylor's 'extraordinary' debut

Penguin Michael Joseph has landed Notes on Infinity by 24-year-old Austin Taylor, described as an “extraordinary” love story set against the world of Silicon Valley start-up culture. 

Lily Cooper, senior commissioning editor, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada from Katie Greenstreet at Paper Literary after a four-way auction. Notes on Infinity will publish in hardback, e-book and audiobook in summer 2025 as a lead fiction title for the imprint. Rights have so far also sold to Deb Futter at Celadon in a major two-book deal at auction, and Heyne Verlag in Germany, also at auction. 

Notes on Infinity begins in a chemistry classroom in Harvard, sometime in the late 2010s. “Zoe and Jack couldn’t be from more different backgrounds, but they are both young, clever, ambitious – and instantly and irrevocably drawn to each other”, the publisher teased. “When together they make a heart-stopping scientific breakthrough, they find themselves catapulted to the world of start-ups, fame, and money beyond their wildest dreams. But with it comes a maelstrom of insatiable greed, jealousy and deceit, and soon it becomes clear that their dream – and their relationship – might come at a heartbreaking price.” 

Taylor is a 2021 graduate of Harvard University, where she studied Chemistry and English. She will return to Harvard in the autumn to begin her law degree. She said: “I could not be happier that I and Notes on Infinity have found our home at Penguin Michael Joseph, and at Celadon in the US. Notes on Infinity is a product of my fascination with the real people living inside the sweeping dramas that capture our collective attention and dominate our news cycles. Lily Cooper and Deb Futter are a dream team, and I cannot wait to work with them to bring this book – and hopefully many more – into the world.” 

Cooper added: “Notes on Infinity is both a dazzling tale of ambition and deceit set against the vertiginous backdrop of Silicon Valley start-up culture and a moving love story. This is the kind of extraordinary debut that, as an editor, you dream of landing in your inbox. Austin’s assured storytelling will appeal to fans of Gabrielle Zevin, Maggie Shipstead and Jennifer Egan, but this story is unique, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be launching what promises to be a glittering career at Penguin Michael Joseph.”