Utterly Monkey

By Nick Laird

A very funny, energetic, wonderfully engaging novel about where we’re from and where we’d like to get to…

Danny Williams is talented, upwardly mobile and has left his Northern Irish small town roots well behind him. In his mid-twenties he lives in a stylish London flat and has a job in a top London law firm. However, one innocuous Wednesday night his old mucker from home, Geordie Wilson, arrives at the door. On the run from a loyalist militia, whose operational funds he has taken, he manages to bring everything that Danny has been fleeing from right to his smart London doorstep.

Taking place over an intense and gripping five-day period–set in both London and the fictional Irish town of Ballyglass–Nick Laird has written an hilarious, touching and ultimately redemptive novel about friendship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Apr 29, 2010
• ISBN: 9780007372072

Nick Laird

Nick Laird was born in Northern Ireland in 1975, and studied at Cambridge and Harvard. He is the author of two collections of poetry and the acclaimed novel ‘Utterly Monkey’. He currently teaches creative writing at Columbia University in New York.

Reviews for Utterly Monkey

[ahs7wolfy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book follows the life of Danny Williams over a very hectic 5 day period set in London and the fictional town of Ballyglass in Northern Ireland. It all starts when old school friend Geordie turns up on his doorstep unexpectedly. He had to get away from some trouble back home in Northern Ireland so Danny agrees to let him stay for a while until he can sort something out. When he was young, Danny was known for wanting to do things the right way but he now works for a big city law firm where conscience is a four letter word (I wish it was then it would be easier to spell). He gets a reminder of it from beautiful young trainee Ellen, whom he's roped in to help on a due diligence he's been lumbered with, and starts to re-assess his priorities in life.Written along the lines of a Nick Hornby story, though not as accomplished (but to be fair this is his first novel). It contains some fun characters and plenty of humour, often of the dark variety. I will certainly read another offering of Nick Laird's if and when it becomes available as I think this is a promising debut.

[bobbieharv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Zadie Smith's husband and a very good writer. An unlikely story (for me) about two Irish boyhood friends and an IRA-type plot and a bored lawyer who falls in love with a black girl. He's very talented.

[aahlvers_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Utterly Monkey by Nick Laird is a Irish import . A dark comedic crime novel that was entertaining and quirky but didn't have the impact on me that some of my other novels have. I enjoyed it immensely though.