Chris McQueer is the acclaimed author of the short story collections _Hings_ and _HWFG_. Stories from _Hings_ were adapted for TV by Chris and shown on BBC Scotland, and he's presented the documentaries _Noteworthy with Chris McQueer_ and _Let's Talk About the English_, and has also appeared on _A View From the Terrace_ and Damian Barr's _Big Scottish Book Club_.
He won the award for Outstanding Literature at the _Herald_ Scottish Culture Awards 2019 and has had two plays staged. He has delivered workshops in youth clubs, for secondary school pupils, prison inmates & others.
Chris joins us for _Hermit_, his darkly funny, moving debut novel.
_Since dropping out of school three years ago with no qualifications, no pals, and no ambition, Jamie Skelton spends most of his days asleep and most of his nights wanking, playing video games with his online friend, Lee, and occasionally making the journey downstairs to the kitchen for a microwave burger. He hasn't left the house in months, and now he's not sure he can._
_Fiona, Jamie's maw, is trying her best, but since finding the courage to kick out her abusive husband her confidence has never recovered. She goes to work every day, but otherwise she's not that different from her son - withdrawn from life, without friends. She knows their lives can't carry on like this, but she's at a loss to know how to change things._
_When Fiona tries to get Jamie to apply for a job, he sees her as the cause for all of his problems. Then Lee tells Jamie he's realised there's a name for what they are - incels - and that there's a guy he's met through the forums they can go stay with in London, to get away from their nagging mams._
_But running away from his problems at home, Jamie may actually run towards something much worse._
_Praise for Chris McQueer:_
'Charlie Brooker on Buckfast' ~ Martin Compston
'[McQueer's] talent zings off the page' ~ _Guardian_
'Impressive' ~ Eric Idle, Monty Python