Exit Management

"At minus five degrees, even the densest blood materials start to turn: the beginnings of a human heart will still into black ice." Callum has been given an opportunity: Jozsef's house is the perfect place to live - plenty of room, a sought-after London location and filled with priceless works of art. All that Jozsef asks in return is for some company while he's ill and the promise that if it all gets too much, someone will be there to help him at the end. It's fortunate then, when Callum meets Lauren who works in Human Resources and specialises in getting rid of people. Jozsef welcomes them both inside, and so begins a deadly spiral of violence. Pushed ever onwards by the poison of ambition, and haunted by loses from the past, these characters are drawn together in a catastrophe of endings. Naomi Booth's second novel is a groundbreaking dissection of class, xenophobia and compassion. Exit Management will seize you in its cold hands and show you the dark heart within us all.

About the Author :
Naomi Booth is the author of two previous works of fiction: The Lost Art of Sinking and Sealed. She was selected for New Writing North’s Read Regional campaign in 2017 and she was named one of the Guardian’s Fifty Writers to Read Now in 2018. She is the recipient of a Saboteur Award for Best Novella, and has been longlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award and the Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, BBC Radio 3, and as part of the Audible Original series Hag. She completed her PhD research on the literary history of swooning and teaches at Durham University. She has spent most of her life in Yorkshire: she was born in Bradford, grew up in Dewsbury, and now lives in York.

Review :
Fresh Voices: 50 Writers You Should Read Now, the Guardian;;‘A stunning exploration of the human urge to love, protect and remember, and an empathetic study of lost souls driven to connect. Written in poetic and haunting prose, Exit Management pierces the dark heart of society, letting in the light.’ – Megan Bradbury, author of Everyone is Watching;;'Exit Management is a reminder of how little we know of what is going on behind strangers’ windows or in the darkest twists of their minds.' – Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Starling Days; ;‘Startling in its economy, Booth’s prose tells a tide-shifting story about the fragility of human relationships and how trust works. This is a timely examination of societal and corporeal anxieties, which deftly handles important issues: loneliness, illness, trauma and the body’s boundaries.’ – Lucie McKnight Hardy, author of Water Shall Refuse Them; ;‘Exit Management is a truly beautiful read which examines what it means to move on-from relationships, regrets, poverty, and war-torn childhoods. Booth's characters ring with an uncommon authenticity. I devoured this novel.’ – Madeline Stevens, author of Devotion; ;‘Exit Management tells the story of three souls cast adrift in an uncaring world and the redemptive power of art, friendship and love. Naomi Booth renders her entirely believable characters in hauntingly poetic prose that is as beautiful as it is tragic. A major, highly original talent.’ – Cathi Unsworth, author of Weirdo;;‘Exit Management is an essential novel for our times. It fizzes with anxiety and desperate characters; building to a chokehold of thrilling tension. A joy from the first page to the last, all told in exhilaratingly exquisite prose.’– Lara Williams, author of Supper Club