I Want You to Be Happy Hardcover by Jem Calder

Product Details

• Publisher: Knopf Canada (2026-07-14)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 272 pages
• ISBN-13: 9781039058965
• Item Weight: 357.21 grams
• Dimensions: 21.69 x 14.61 x 2.39 cm

“THE SALLY ROONEY-APPROVED BOOK OF THE SUMMER.”
—DAZED

NAMED 'A BEST DEBUT NOVELIST' BY THE OBSERVER • A NEW YORK TIMES JULY BOOKS PICK • NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED NOVEL BY THE TIMES • GQ • THE GUARDIAN • GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

“I Want You to Be Happy is an irresistible novel that asks complex questions about contemporary life and refuses easy answers. I couldn’t stop reading.” —Sally Rooney

“An agonisingly bittersweet comedy.” ―The Observer

“A totally devastating—and all too relatable—portrait of modern romance.” ―Vogue

"Hypnotizing, like a long story from a friend you always have good banter with.” —The Brooklyn Rail

Chuck and Joey meet in a bar. He's in his mid-thirties; she's twelve years younger. He's long abandoned his ambition of becoming a novelist and now works as a copywriter at a big ad agency. 'Lead copywriter,' he corrects himself. Joey lives paycheck to paycheck on her barista wages and privately dreams of making it as a poet. They go back to Chuck's luxury flat—a world away from Joey's cramped house-share, the crumbs in her bed. Soon, Joey's imagining a future between them, and Chuck's moving on from a major change in his recent past. Amazing, how meeting a new person can make you feel so new.

Funny, excruciating, and true, I Want You to Be Happy is a sharp-eyed tale of two people searching for meaning and connection in modern times, missing the mark maybe, but trying.

About the Author

JEM CALDER was born in Cambridge and lives and works in London. He is the author of the short story collection Reward System, and his writing has been published in Granta and The Stinging Fly.