Kill Your Friends

{{short description|2008 novel by John Niven}} {{About||the film adaptation of the novel|Kill Your Friends (film)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{infobox book  | name = Kill Your Friends | image = File:KillYourFriends.jpg | caption = First edition (UK) | author = John Niven | country = United Kingdom | genre = Satire, Crime Fiction | publisher = Heinemann | pub_date = 7 Feb 2008 | media_type = Print | pages = 336 | isbn = 0-434-01799-X | preceded_by = | followed_by = The Amateurs }}

'''''Kill Your Friends''''' is the debut novel by the Scottish writer John Niven. It was published in 2008 by William Heinemann.

==Plot summary==

The novel is set in 1997 at the height of the Britpop music scene. The protagonist, Steven Stelfox, is unhappy about his current position as an A&R agent in the record company he works for in London. Stelfox, uninterested in most music, is jealous of his coworkers' success in finding successful musical acts and attempts to climb the career ladder amidst competition.

==Critical response==

The protagonist and plot have been compared to ''American Psycho'' and been described as "mad, gleeful nastiness".<ref name="guardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/31/kill-your-friends-review |title=Mad, gleeful nastiness |first=Jane |last=Housham |date=31 January 2009 |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=18 July 2017}}</ref> The work is considered satirical, and is described as an "all-out assault" by ''The Independent'',<ref name="The Independent">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/kill-your-friends-by-john-niven-780982.html |first=Jonathan |last=Gibbs |title=Kill Your Friends, by John Niven |date=12 February 2008 |newspaper=The Independent |accessdate=18 July 2017}}</ref> and as having "the horrible, slightly metallic tang of total authenticity" by the ''Philadelphia Weekly''.<ref name="Philadelphia Weekly">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/arts-and-culture/books/Give-Up-43378587.html |first=Steven |last=Wells |title=Kill Your Friends |date=21 April 2009 |magazine=Philadelphia Weekly |accessdate=18 July 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924072329/http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/arts-and-culture/books/Give-Up-43378587.html |archivedate=24 September 2015}}</ref>

==Film adaptation== {{main|Kill Your Friends (film)}} The novel was feature film adapted in 2015, directed by Owen Harris, with a script written by John Niven, starring Nicholas Hoult, Craig Roberts, Tom Riley, and Georgia King, released to generally mixed to negative reviews.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.metacritic.com/movie/kill-your-friends/critic-reviews/| title = Kill Your friends, Critic Reviews| date = March 30, 2016| access-date = July 22, 2025| website = metacritic.com}}</ref><ref name=variety-starts>{{cite magazine |last=Barraclough |first=Leo |title=Music Biz Satire 'Kill Your Friends' Starts to Shoot in London |url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/music-biz-satire-kill-your-friends-starts-to-shoot-in-london-1201128555/ |magazine=Variety |date=10 March 2014 |accessdate=11 March 2014 }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Scottish novels Category:2008 British novels Category:Novels set in 1997 Category:Novels set in London Category:Heinemann (publisher) books Category:Novels set in the 1990s Category:British novels adapted into films Category:2008 debut novels