Reward System Paperback by Jem Calder

Product Details

• Publisher: Vintage Canada (2026-06-16)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 304 pages
• ISBN-13: 9781039004856
• Item Weight: 255.15 grams
• Dimensions: 20.19 x 13.18 x 2.06 cm

A set of ultra-contemporary and electrifyingly fresh fictions about a generation on the cusp, enmeshed in Zooms and lockdowns, loneliness and love.

Audacious fictions for a generation wondering: What now?

Julia has landed a fresh start at an up-and-coming city restaurant.
"Imagine that," says her mother.
"I’m imagining."

Her ex-boyfriend Nick is flirting with sobriety and nobody else. Did you know that adults his age are more likely to live with their parents than with a romantic partner?

Life should have started to take shape by now—but instead we’re trying on new versions of ourselves, swiping left and right, searching for a good answer to the question "What do you do?"

About the Author

JEM CALDER was born in Cambridge, and lives and works in London. His first two completed stories were published in The Stinging Fly and Granta.