Meatspace

The second novel from Costa First Novel Award shortlisted author Nikesh Shukla. 'The first and last thing I do every day is see what strangers are saying about me.' Kitab Balasubramanyam has had a rough few months. His girlfriend left him. He got fired from the job he hated for writing a novel on company time, but the novel didn't sell and now he's burning through his mum's life insurance money. His father has more success with women than he does, and his Facebook comments get more likes. Kitab is reduced to spending all of his time in his flat with his brother Aziz, coming up with ideas for novelty Tumblrs and composing amusing tweets. But now even Aziz has left him, travelling to America to find his doppelganger. So what happens when Kitab Balasubramanyam's only internet namesake turns up on his doorstep and insists that they are meant to be friends?Meatspace is a hilarious and troubling analysis of what happens when our lives become nothing more than an aggregation of shared content, when our online personas are more interesting than real life. A brilliant follow-up from an acclaimed young novelist writing at the sharp edge of modern life. 'The first and last thing I do every day is see what strangers are saying about me.' Kitab Balasubramanyam has had a rough few months. His girlfriend left him. He got fired from the job he hated for writing a novel on company time, but the novel didnt sell and now hes burning through his mums life insurance money. His father has more success with women than he does, and his Facebook comments get more likes. Kitab is reduced to spending all of his time in his flat with his brother Aziz, coming up with ideas for novelty Tumblrs and composing amusing tweets. But now even Aziz has left him, travelling to America to find his doppelganger. So what happens when Kitab Balasubramanyams only internet namesake turns up on his doorstep and insists that they are meant to be friends? Meatspace is a hilarious and troubling analysis of what happens when our lives become nothing more than an aggregation of shared content, when our online personas are more interesting than real life. A brilliant follow-up from an acclaimed young novelist writing at the sharp edge of modern life. In a time when everyone is obsessed with and defined by their online personas, this clever and sharp novel by Nikesh Shukla dares readers to question who they actually are when they're not on Facebook but rather face to face. Meatspace is the world of flesh and blood where you're physically present. It's the opposite of cyberspace. Kitab and Aziz are brothers living together in London who are as fully plugged in to the grid as it's possible to be. They obsessively check and update their many channels of connection, are slaves to the hourly updates, and are unable to last an entire conversation without checking their phones for texts, emails and Tweets. Meatspace is the world of flesh and blood where you're physically present; it's the opposite of cyberspace. Kitab and Aziz are brothers living together in London who are as fully plugged in to the grid as it's possible to be. They obsessively check and update their many channels of connection, are slaves to the hourly updates, and are unable to last an entire conversation without checking their phones for texts, emails and Tweets. Then Aziz leaves for New York to find his online doppelganger, and "Kitab 2" shows up on the doorstep. Can Kitab live up to his online persona?