Out on 04 February 2027
Synopsis
A woman walks into a gym and lies to get a job.
The gym is a palace of possibility. Here she can transform. Become unrecognizable.
No more presentations or promotions or emails.
She can push herself to her limits, then push past them. Lie some more. Perfect her body, and never lose control again.
And she can finally get her probation officer off her back.
But we can never really escape who we are. People start asking questions but she can’t let them take this new life from her. They obviously don’t know the things she’s capable of.
Gym is Verena Kessler’s sweat-slicked, painfully funny novel about obsession, ambition and a woman’s doomed attempt to run from herself.
Details
04 February 2027
224 pages
9781037406782
Imprint: Picador
Reviews
“Verena Kessler never tells stories with a raised finger; she does so lightly, amusingly, and comically, and quite wickedly . . . Truly magnificent!”Christine Westermann, Christine Westermann
“Maximum entertainment . . . This book goes down like a good techno spinning class: fast-paced, sweaty, and not a second too long”Thore Rausch, Thore Rausch
“Kessler mercilessly holds a mirror up to everyone who knows ambition, doggedness, and the pressure to be perfect, driving her protagonist into a delusion from which there is no escape – #unhingedwomen at its best”Linn Könnecke, Linn Könnecke
“In the mirrors of the mega-gym, we look ourselves in the eye. Verena Kessler tells the story of the abysses of our time in a way that is incredibly gripping, dazzling, and funny”Ruth-Maria Thomas, Ruth-Maria Thomas
