Eleven

In Cardiff's offices and call centres the twenty-something white collar workers of the new sweatshops email each other with work issues, jokes, arrangements for their social lives, gossip and the products of sheer boredom. As the day passes, author Martin conducts this correspondence and saves in Drafts a variety of emails to himself - a commentary on his life. Martin is tired of customer services, in denial over breaking up with his girlfriend, worried about 'that incident' in Bristol, and baffled by the triviality of his life and those of his drinking, recreational drug-taking friends. What is the plot he's supposed to be following? How has it come to this? When on this day, 11th September, 2001, people fly airliners into buildings, Martin knows he's reached a critical point in his life. He sends his final message...Told entirely through emails, part The Office, part Pinter, "Eleven" is a striking debut novel: smart, funny, brutally sad, and a genuine response to 21st century society in the UK and beyond. It iis likely to become a cult text for young people, disillusioned with society, across the UK.

“"Llewellyn skillfully and poignantly reveals the complications and evasions of the characters' relationships . . .Elevenis a compulsive read, and I devoured it in one sitting, unable to put it down”

'Eleven' is written in the truest tradition of epistolary novels; it is a 'Clarissa' for the twenty first century, a 'Humphrey Clinker' for our crazed age. In its juxtaposition of the petty bickering of office politics, the frustrated immensity of individual needs, and a physical event that might just shatter the world, it conveys an almost unbearable poignancy. Much, much power is crammed into this short novel. -- Niall Griffiths

David Llewellyn was raised in Pontypool and is a graduate of Darlington College of Arts. He has written scripts for the BBC and several short stories. David now lives in Cardiff where he works in a call centre.This is his first novel.

Told entirely in e-mails sent and received by Martin Davies, would-be author and frustrated corporate accountant, this debut novel is set on September 11, 2001, in Cardiff, Wales. In denial about his breakup with his girlfriend and baffled by the triviality of his life, Martin gossips online at his desk and makes plans for the weekend until--just after his crowd of young professionals returns from lunch--people start flying airliners into office buildings in New York City. Very funny and then brutally sad, Martin's messages by the time the day is over have run the gamut from nonsense straight out of "The Office" to something closer to a play by Samuel Beckett.

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