Simon Mayo's Books of the Year

Simon Mayo and Matt Williams welcome podcaster, journalist, marathon-runner, broadcaster and author - Bryony Gordon - to the podcast, to chat about her debut novel for adults.
They discuss the London Marathon (which Bryony ran this year in her underwear with her good friend Adele Roberts), columnists who don't write what they truly believe - and - people pleasing, which is the central theme in Bryony's novel.
Here's a little bit more about 'People Pleaser:
Olivia Greenwood has been trying very hard to please people for a very long time.

But today is going to change Olivia in a big way. A soul-crushing career disappointment, a fiery young woman with a chip on her shoulder and a cigarette in her hand, and one single blue hallucinogenic gummy all lead to a raucous night out and one hell of a hangover. And when Olivia wakes up the next morning, it seems she’s unable to please anyone but HERSELF.

So who actually is Olivia Greenwood, when she’s not trying to be what everyone else wants her to be?

Bestselling novelist and journalist, John Lanchester, joins Simon and Matt to answer some of our classic Q&A questions.
We learn about his writing process, his favourite authors, some of his quirks, get some good writing advice - and find out who he'd invite to his fantasy dinner party.

Journalist and author, John Lanchester, joins Simon and Matt to chat about his new darkly comic novel, 'Look What You Made Me Do'
They dissect the characters in the novel, explore house ownership in the 90s versus owning property now and look at inter-generational tensions.
John also talks about being an 'outsider' and writing from the perspective of having lots of different flags to wave.
'Look What You Made Me do' is one of Simon's favourite books of the year - and we hope you love it too!

Booker Prize winning author, Yann Martel, joins Simon and Matt for a bit of Q&A.
He reveals his quirky writing routine, who he'd invite to his fantasy dinner party - and - gives us some great book recommendations too.
We also surprise him with a question from fellow author and Booker shortlistee, Tan Twan Eng.

Booker Prize winning author, Yann Martel, chats to Simon and Matt about his new novel 'Son Of Nobody'.
They talk about The Iliad - one of his inspirations behind the book - as well as how we understand ancient history in 2026, and how we should tell those stories.
The novel explores how stories become facts, the price we pay to share them and how we live – then, now and always.
Here's a little more info on 'Son Of Nobody'

Harlow Donne has devoted his life to the Classical world. When a chance comes up to study an obscure collection of papyrus fragments at Oxford University, he seizes it. Though it means leaving his daughter and fracturing marriage back home in Canada, this is the kind of career break he desperately needs.

In the depths of the Bodleian Library, Harlow discovers a lost account of the Trojan War, a glimpse into the founding of Western civilization itself. He names the epic poem The Psoad, after its protagonist, a Greek commoner identified as Psoas of Midea but known to all as ‘son of nobody’.

As sole translator and interpreter of the Psoad, Harlow dedicates the poem and its modern footnotes to his daughter, Helen. Under his gaze, the text unlocks echoes of Ancient Greece into the present day, and a personal message to his beloved child appears. Despite the three-thousand-year gap between the two, a thread hasn’t frayed: the universal song of homesickness and regret, of ambition and grief.