Four Friends, Three Assumed Identities, Two Weddings and One Very Dangerous Bet

New in bookstores this month is Iain Hollingshead's hilarious new novel Beta Male.

Hollingshead won great acclaim for his debut novel Twentysomething, which Booklist described as “pure comic gold” and the Chicago Sun-Times anointed as a “Bridget Jones’s diary for the fellas.” It also won the Literary Review’s Bad Sex in Fiction Award in 2006.

Now Hollingshead continues his absorbing and hilarious chronicles of modern men with Beta Male, a story of four friends, three assumed identities, two weddings, and one very dangerous bet. Sam Hunt is a confused male in his very late twenties. A work-shy, commitment-phobic actor, he is beginning to worry that turning thirty might be the last straw. Beta males one and all, Sam and his friends are desperately clinging to their independence, while secretly they are all terrified of ending up alone. Alan has just been proposed to by his girlfriend. Newly-dumped Ed spends his time tearfully watching Sex and the City. Meanwhile unemployed doctor Matt makes a dubious bet with Sam to see who can be the first to ensnare a rich wife and enjoy a life of leisure. Beta Male is a funny and painfully honest chronicle about friendship, masculinity, marriage and the beginning of the end of the beginning of adulthood.

Based in London, Iain Hollingshead is a feature writer at The Daily Telegraph , the editor of Am I Alone in Thinking..? Unpublished Letters to the Daily Telegraph and the author of two novels. He has also written three tie-in books for the BBC's BAFTA-winning spy drama, Spooks.

Blair on Broadway? Sex Prize Winner Iain Holligshead Pens a Musical

Today's Independent reports that with the Prime Minister retiring this week, Overlook's prize-winning novelist Iain Hollingshead had grand plans for Blair: singing and dancing.

"The novelist Iain Hollingshead, holder of the Bad Sex in Fiction prize, penned this script with BBC World Service hack Timothy Muller. IH wrote to Blair: "Just wondering whether you would play yourself in our forthcoming musical? You'd be perfect for the part. I don't know what your availability is like in the autumn... but you'd probably require less rehearsals than the other actors." There's a rapping Jeremy Paxman and a juggling Cherie."

Judge for yourself below if you think Blair's singing voice is good enough for the Great White Way. But, as you can see, our President could be a Top 5 finalist on "American Idol". Particularly great on Motown Night.

More Bad Sex!

Tom Zeller, Jr. on the Nytimes Lede blog reflects upon this week's Iain Hollingshead upset victory in the 2006 Bad Sex in Fiction Award. Also check out Iain's essay in the Telegraph about how he feels to be this year's big winner!

"There's something very British, of course, about celebrating failure. Some writers deserve to be taken down a peg or two, but most nominees take the awards with the good humour with which they're intended."

To Bad Sex Award Winner, With Love

Our own Iain Hollingshead, accepting a giant foot from Hole Rocker Courtney Love.

Iain Hollingshead's TWENTY SOMETHING wins the 2006 Bad Sex in Fiction Award

Congratulations to Iain Hollingshead for being the youngest winner ever of the Literary Review's Bad Sex Award! Take that, Tom Willocks, Will Self and Thomas Pynchon! The judges said that Iain's phrase "bulging trousers" put him over the top in a very close race. "I hope to win it every year," said an honored and thrilled Hollingshead. What's better? Iain will receive the award from Courtney Love! How cool is that?

"Now in its 14th year, the award is given to the passage considered to be the most redundant in an otherwise excellent novel."

"'Bulging trousers' indeed!" cheered Overlook Press Publisher Peter Mayer upon hearing the news. "We're bulging with pride at the stand-out quality of our author's libidinal literary efforts. Every part of our international publishing family is standing up and saluting young Iain." Champagne is popping throughout our offices! Cheers, Iain!

Iain Hollingshead's is a finalist for the 2006 Bad Sex Awards

2006 Bad Sex Awards will be announced this week, and it looks like Overlook Duckworth's Ian Hollingshead is in some good company: Thomas Pynchon, David Mitchell, Mark Haddon, and Julia Glass, among others. See all the excruciating prose here. Best of luck to all the finalists!