Death of a Salaryman

Kenji Yamada has a critical wife, a hated mother-in-law and what he thinks is a job for life until his fortieth birthday teaches him otherwise. Initially too embarassed to tell his family that he has been fired, Kenji first befriends a travelling salesman with a passion for Elvis before taking up gambling, but his wife’s outrage soon brings an end to this and sends him on a roller-coaster of misadventures.

Via a bizarre chain of happenstance – including being struck by lightning while wielding a golf club – Kenji somehow finds himself responsible for a weirdly believable game show…

Fiona Campbell’s novel is a sparkling debut with graphic-novel sharpness, humour and poignancy.