Jimmy Conway always wanted to be famous. As a teenager he even stashed away a series of letters advising his future self on how to handle the fame and fortune coming his way. And so when he's reunited with these rather embarrassing predictions in his mid-thirties he can't help feeling he must be a bit of a disappointment to himself.

Thus begins an extraordinary journey into the world of celebrity. Jimmy bluffs and stumbles all the way to the very top until he finds himself about to perform stand-up comedy in front of a packed theatre and a live television audience of millions. There's only one problem, he's never performed anything before - ever.

With his second novel, John O'Farrell has written a compelling, funny and acutely observed satire on our shallow celebrity-obsessed culture in the vain hope that he might get to go on telly occasionally.