Beyond Kidding
An unputdownable, darkly funny sci-fi
Published on 31. October 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-1-912054-84-8 (ISBN)
Description
JUST ONE LITTLE LIE CAN HAVE LIFE-CHANGING CONSEQUENCES.
When Robert (or Kidder, as he's known to his best friend) decides to impress at a job interview by making up a son, he discovers that maintaining the lie is far harder than he thought - so he invents a story that his imaginary child has been kidnapped. After all, it's not like they're going to find the fake boy.
But a few weeks later, Kidder receives a call to collect his non-existent son from the police station, a boy who looks exactly like the picture he photoshopped. Afraid to come clean, Kidder takes the boy home. And that's where the trouble starts...
Beyond Kidding is a darkly humorous, genre-bending work of sci-fi. Lynda Clark is a new talent to discover for lovers of Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Coupland, and Black Mirror.
When Robert (or Kidder, as he's known to his best friend) decides to impress at a job interview by making up a son, he discovers that maintaining the lie is far harder than he thought - so he invents a story that his imaginary child has been kidnapped. After all, it's not like they're going to find the fake boy.
But a few weeks later, Kidder receives a call to collect his non-existent son from the police station, a boy who looks exactly like the picture he photoshopped. Afraid to come clean, Kidder takes the boy home. And that's where the trouble starts...
Beyond Kidding is a darkly humorous, genre-bending work of sci-fi. Lynda Clark is a new talent to discover for lovers of Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Coupland, and Black Mirror.
Reviews / Votes
'A dark and quirky debut - funny, sad, thought-provoking and unexpected.' -Emma D'Costa, Commonwealth Writers'This is a remarkable debut, written with great warmth and wit. By turns devastating and hilarious, Lynda Clark's Beyond Kidding had me from the very start, and it didn't let me go.' -Sarah Jackson, author of Pelt and winner of the Seamus Heaney Prize 2013
'Surprising, packed with irreverent humour and deft twists and turns. This book feels like a screwball friend that never takes itself too seriously.' -Pan Huiting, author of Red Dust, White Snow
'I loved absolutely every moment of this book.' -Liz, Prospero Books
'Unique, bizarre, hilarious, poignant and a surprisingly good read! This one stands on its own within a genre that could be more than sci-fi. Everything comes together to become this quite wonderful story.' -Gary Sharp, The Book Lover Cafe
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 194 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
312 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-912054-84-8 (9781912054848)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Lynda Clark is the author of Beyond Kidding, a darkly
humorous novel published by Fairlight Books in 2019, and Dreaming in Quantum
and Other Stories, her debut short story collection published in May 2021.
Beyond Kidding is in development for a feature with
Film4, while Dreaming in Quantum contains the highly acclaimed 'Ghillie's
Mum', which won the 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Europe and Canada
and appeared on numerous shortlists including the BBC Short Story award.
Lynda has a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing and is
currently a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh, where
she is also Programme Director of the Narrative Futures masters at the
Edinburgh Futures Institute. In her spare time, Lynda enjoys walking on
the beach with her husband and dog Badger, playing video games, and reading and
writing Interactive Fiction. She has recently written a novel about a woman who
can talk to household appliances, and is working on a gothic ghost comedy and a
memoir about voice, vocal disorders and technology.
humorous novel published by Fairlight Books in 2019, and Dreaming in Quantum
and Other Stories, her debut short story collection published in May 2021.
Beyond Kidding is in development for a feature with
Film4, while Dreaming in Quantum contains the highly acclaimed 'Ghillie's
Mum', which won the 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Europe and Canada
and appeared on numerous shortlists including the BBC Short Story award.
Lynda has a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing and is
currently a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh, where
she is also Programme Director of the Narrative Futures masters at the
Edinburgh Futures Institute. In her spare time, Lynda enjoys walking on
the beach with her husband and dog Badger, playing video games, and reading and
writing Interactive Fiction. She has recently written a novel about a woman who
can talk to household appliances, and is working on a gothic ghost comedy and a
memoir about voice, vocal disorders and technology.