The Young Team

A swaggering, incendiary debut … The non-standard English forges a dazzling poetry of its own … pitches Armstrong straight into the first division of Scottish writers. – Jude Cook * The Guardian *
The Young Team is a landmark in Scottish literature. It reminds me of Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby. – Damian Barr, author of Maggie & Me
Armstrong’s hard-hitting novel is Trainspotting for a new generation. * The Independent *
Raw and lyrical … written in a voice that recalls Irvine Welsh and Alan Warner – dialect that fizzes off the page. * The Observer *
[A] gripping debut novel … he is quite a phenomenon … one of the most admired young voices in British fiction. – Mike Wade * The Times *
A riveting debut novel … it crackles with teenage energy … has already engendered a buzz that many other debut novelists would kill for. * The Herald *
It is Trainspotting meets Clockwork Orange in this depiction of gang life in North Lanarkshire … it gives us a voice from a place - geographically and socio-economically - we don’t often hear from. – John Self * The Times *
The Young Team is a book full of guts, power, humour and humanity. – Kerry Hudson, author of Lowborn
Bright, brittle and boiling with immediacy … His work is vivid, dynamic and sharp as a whip. – Janice Galloway, author of The Trick is to Keep Breathing
Phenomenal. It’s been ages since I read a book so funny, visceral, or powerful. – David Whitehouse, author of Bed

Graeme Armstrong is a Scottish writer from Airdrie. His teenage years were spent within North Lanarkshire’s gang culture. He was inspired to study English Literature following his reading of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting at just sixteen. Alongside overcoming his own struggles with drug addiction, alcohol abuse and violence, he defied expectation to read English as an undergraduate at the University of Stirling; where, after graduating with honours, he returned to study a Masters’ in Creative Writing. His debut novel, The Young Team is inspired by his experiences.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.