"Good Material" by Dolly Alderton

An audio book.

Andy (35, his PoV, a comedian who does a lot of other bit-jobs) is staying with his mum for a few nights. Jen (maritime insurance) has dumped him. He's worried about hair-loss. He's relearning how to be single, but all the friends he had last time he was single are married now. He's trying to recontact old friends, including a girlfriend he's not seen for 17 years. He stays with friends Jane and Avi. He's godfather to their 4 y.o. Jackson. He compares his way of getting over it with Jen's - she goes with friends to a spa; he's entitled to one pub/club night on the NHS with mates paying, then it's BUPA territory. He realises that within each break-up there are many mini-breakups - with mutual friends etc. He continues doing gigs, analysing the other acts. He lives in a houseboat for a few days then lodges with Morris, a 78 y.o. conspiracist.

When it's Jen's birthday he sends her a multiply-drafted text, analysing the speed and content of the reply. When they meet the bank people to close their joint account they argue. When they meet by chance a few weeks later, she's with Seb. Andy researches Seb online. He think Jen's therapist told Jen to dump him. He checks this theory by going to a therapist and pretending to be a lawyer with a juggling partner. The therapist keeps focussing on fake details.

Kelly, his lesbian trainer, is getting over a break up.

He rations how much he mentions Jen, runs out of people to talk to. He continues going to gigs. When someone bombs on-stage he leaves before the end because that's what you do.

Via a comedian friend he meets Sophie (12 years younger than him) whose past boyfriend was older than him. Her flatmates are pan, poly. At their first date she shows him nude photos of herself and some chats she's having on dating sites. He has sex for the first time in 4 months.

When she begins to show affection for him he has doubts whether he understands what's happening. A flood of bad reviews of his recent gig appears online. He's told to write some new material.

He and Sophie reach “The Flip” – first one of them loved the most, then suddenly the other did. The one least in love is the one with the power, and when he had the power he dumped her. A friend breaks up. Andy offers him a chance to chat about it. Andy meets Jen at a kids’ party. She’s broken with Seb. She invites him home. He stays the night. They skillfully avoid arguments that had spoiled things in the past. They have a good time. Next morning he realises it was a one night stand. Months later he breaks with Kelly, who's happier by then.

Now it’s Jen's PoV. There’s some details about her upbringing, how she discovered her father with his long-term mistress. We learn what she thinks of Andy – his low self-esteem means that he misjudges what people think of him. He’s not curious, he doesn't want to go to new places. He was her first real boyfriend – her Oxford degree only got her dates with boring lawyers. Andy was a breath of fresh air. Then within months, she went for a top job, he was filming for TV, she found she had few eggs left (Andy's her last hope), and her gran’s last words were that she shouldn’t marry. It was all too much. She realised that Andy wasn’t the one. With the help of her therapist she'd planned the break-up for months.

She says that when you break up with someone, you look for someone else who has the 10% that your ex lacked. Seb had the missing 10% but not much else. She's been stalking him online. She watches Andy perform his new material about their break-up. She tells him afterwards that it was good - some parts too long, some not long enough. She decides to give up her job and go travelling - she's not had time before. He's fitter now. He'd be a good father. Good husband material.

Yes, it does sound like Nick Hornby. The dialogue and the analysis of stand-up all sound convincing to me. The second part (much shorter than the first, with much less mention of other people) makes him sound less self-indulgent. They both suffered. I felt more sorry for her by the end.

Other reviews

• Hephzibah Anderson
• Michael Donkor (There’s much to enjoy here, not least Alderton’s willingness to allow in some narrative ambivalence: while Andy’s sorrow is humanely sketched, it also often leans towards self-indulgence. She’s got a good ear for dialogue ... Alderton has a solid line in cameos)
• Katie J.M. Baker (I found it a bit cringe (Sophie’s favorite adjective) that otherwise true-to-life characters kept coining aphorisms)