Big Nobody
Will be published approx. on 5. March 2026
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-1-5291-5530-3 (ISBN)
Description
A FIZZINGLY ORIGINAL COMING-OF-AGE STORY:
HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY MEETS DERRY GIRLS
'Riotously funny, nostalgic and immensely touching.' PANDORA SYKES
'Broke my heart one minute and had me really laughing the next.' XOCHITL GONZALEZ, author of OLGA DIES DREAMING
'Hands down the funniest, most original novel I've read in ages.' GRANT GINDER, author of THE PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDING
'Audacious and hilarious.' RUMAAN ALAM, author of LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND
For Constance 'Connie' Costa, life is just beginning. She dreams of leaving behind her dull, dreary life in '70s East London, shaking off her deeply embarrassing Greek-Cypriot community of interfering Aunties and pretend 'cousins', and running away with her best mate Vas (fellow misfit; NHS specs; soul of a poet). She is determined to take her rightful place alongside her hero, David Bowie, onstage at Wembley Stadium.
Only one thing stands in her way: her father, The Fat Murderer. No longer content with being an absolute imbecile and general abomination of nature, he has dialled up his campaign to ruin Connie's life ever since the untimely death of her mother.
If she ever wants to claim the destiny that is rightfully hers, Connie has only one option left: to kill him.
Fizzingly original, disarmingly tender and laugh-out-loud funny, BIG NOBODY is a coming-of-age story about first love, first grief, and the long, painful journey to feeling like a somebody.
READERS LOVE CONNIE COSTA . . .
'Poignant, authentic and darkly funny' *****
'Fabulous - I was rooting for Connie the whole way' *****
'Smart, funny, quirky' *****
HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY MEETS DERRY GIRLS
'Riotously funny, nostalgic and immensely touching.' PANDORA SYKES
'Broke my heart one minute and had me really laughing the next.' XOCHITL GONZALEZ, author of OLGA DIES DREAMING
'Hands down the funniest, most original novel I've read in ages.' GRANT GINDER, author of THE PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDING
'Audacious and hilarious.' RUMAAN ALAM, author of LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND
For Constance 'Connie' Costa, life is just beginning. She dreams of leaving behind her dull, dreary life in '70s East London, shaking off her deeply embarrassing Greek-Cypriot community of interfering Aunties and pretend 'cousins', and running away with her best mate Vas (fellow misfit; NHS specs; soul of a poet). She is determined to take her rightful place alongside her hero, David Bowie, onstage at Wembley Stadium.
Only one thing stands in her way: her father, The Fat Murderer. No longer content with being an absolute imbecile and general abomination of nature, he has dialled up his campaign to ruin Connie's life ever since the untimely death of her mother.
If she ever wants to claim the destiny that is rightfully hers, Connie has only one option left: to kill him.
Fizzingly original, disarmingly tender and laugh-out-loud funny, BIG NOBODY is a coming-of-age story about first love, first grief, and the long, painful journey to feeling like a somebody.
READERS LOVE CONNIE COSTA . . .
'Poignant, authentic and darkly funny' *****
'Fabulous - I was rooting for Connie the whole way' *****
'Smart, funny, quirky' *****
Reviews / Votes
Riotously funny, nostalgic and immensely touching. If this isn't a hit I will eat my hat. -- Pandora Sykes With BIG NOBODY a big new voice has arrived in fiction. Chock with wit, whimsy and the poignancy of unprocessed pain, this book broke my heart one minute and had me really laughing the next. In Connie, with her resilience and fierce determination to live on her own terms, Alex Kadis has given us a protagonist who will stay with you for a very long time. -- Xochitl Gonzalez This audacious debut novel reminds readers that humour might be the best way to talk about heartbreak. Big Nobody offers us both: it's a hilarious tale of awkward (is there any other kind?) adolescence that is also a moving story of family dysfunction. Don't worry: there's trauma, but there's triumph, too. -- Rumaan Alam, author of LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND BIG NOBODY is hands down the funniest, most original novel I've read in ages; it's also a surprisingly moving story about what it means to strike out on your own in a hostile, bewildering world, told by one of the most memorable new narrators in contemporary fiction. Keep Alex Kadis on your radar - she's a force to be reckoned with. I am totally, utterly, out-of-my-mind obsessed with this book. -- Grant Ginder, author of THE PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDINGMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Dimensions
Height: 219 mm
Width: 138 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
450 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5291-5530-3 (9781529155303)
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
Other editions
Additional editions
Alex Kadis
Big Nobody
The darkly funny new coming-of-age novel for fans of Bella Mackie and Derry Girls
E-Book
03/2026
Penguin (Cornerstone)
€12.99
Available for download
Person
Alex Kadis is half-British, half-Greek, and grew up in Leyton and Walthamstow, East London. She studied English Literature at Goldsmiths University before embarking on a music journalism career. She was Features Editor at Smash Hits in its heyday (RIP) and has also written for various newspapers and magazines, including Sunday Times Style and Q Magazine. She then went into artist management and now works as a consultant in the music industry. Alex suffers from delusions of grandeur and still believes she will, one day, headline Wembley Stadium.