And Other Stories to publish three backlist titles from Booker Prize-winning James Kelman
And Other Stories is set to bring three backlist titles from Booker Prize-winning James Kelman back into print. Publisher Stefan Tobler has acquired exclusive English-language rights in UK, Commonwealth (excluding Canada) and Europe to James Kelman’s novels Kieron Smith, Boy, A Chancer and The Busconductor Hines from Cara Jones at Rogers, Coleridge & White. These will be published over successive years, starting in June 2026 with Kieron Smith, Boy.
Kieron Smith, Boy was originally published in 2008 by Hamish Hamilton and follows the titular Kieron Smith, who, when rejected by his brother and largely ignored by his parents, finds comfort – and endless stories – in the home of his much-loved grandparents.
The synopsis continues: "But when his family move to a new housing scheme on the outskirts of Glasgow, a world away from the close community of the tenements, Kieron struggles to find a way to adapt to his new life."
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Kelman said: "I recognised [And Other Stories’] enthusiasm as genuine, derived from their belief in the power of literature. I find it infectious. It ain’t common outside of the indie literary scene, not that I ever come upon. This is the area where writers aren’t afraid to see what they do as art, and remind people of its political and cultural significance.
"It’s generally associated with poetry. The indie scene is where I found a home for my prose fiction more than 50 years ago. Now in the UK with And Other Stories, as with PM Press in USA, it’s been a return to the roots for myself. It’s good to be among people who aren’t afraid to take on the challenge, aesthetic and otherwise."
Kelman was awarded the Booker Prize for How Late It Was, How Late in 1994 and his other literary awards include the Cheltenham Prize for Literature for Greyhound for Breakfast (1987) and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for A Disaffection (1989).
Tobler said: "Jim Kelman’s writing has lit up my year. I can’t stop talking to everyone about it. Firstly, there’s just such a charm, rightness and humanity to the people and their relationships. And a fluidity, in the perspectives, the consciousness, that is incredible. And the language, so alive and nimble and true!"
