The tick and the tock of the crocodile clock - Kenny Boyle

Wendy just wants to be a poet. So how comes she's on the run after an art heist?

An aspiring writer from the Southside of Glasgow, Wendy is in a rut. She tries to brighten her call-center job by shoehorning as many long words as possible into conversations with customers. But her manager isn't amused by that and, after a public dressing-down, Wendy walks out.

Jobless and depressed, she finds consolation in a surprise friendship with another disgruntled ex-colleague, wild-child painter Cat, who encourages her to live more dangerously. It's just what Wendy needs and it's also brilliant for her creative juices. But a black cloud is about to overshadow this new-found liberation, as well as to put Wendy on the wrong side of the law.

Fresh, insightful and funny, as well as unflinchingly honest about the tougher side of life, Kenny Boyle's debut novel takes us deep into the psyche of a likeable misfit who treads a fine line between reality and fantasy - and just wants the world to see her true self.