Andrew Hunter Murray’s ‘mind-bending’ new novel signed by Orion Fiction
Orion Fiction has acquired Everything Happens So Much, the “heartwarming, mind-bending" new book club novel by broadcaster, comedian and author Andrew Hunter Murray.
Publisher Emad Akhtar bought world rights from Jon Wood at RCW, while North American rights went in a pre-empt to Asya Muchnick at Little, Brown US. Orion will publish in hardback, e-book and audio on 5th November 2026.
The blurb reads: “Esme Good is an unremarkable woman with an extremely dull job, in a city just like the one you’re picturing now. Her only escape is The Elsewheres: tiny potions that allow you to disappear for 15 minutes into alternate versions of yourself. Sadly, these only confirm her suspicion that she is, in a cosmic sense, living her worst life.
“Then, after an unlikely mix-up, which we really don’t have time to get into right now, Esme unintentionally becomes the most important person in this – or perhaps any – universe. We don’t have time to get into exactly why this is, but to remedy it, Esme must find an uncharted land and fulfil a prophecy that has been on hold since the dawn of time. She has spent her whole life trying not to become a main character. Now, a lot of things are about to happen to her: in fact, everything and so much.”
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Akhtar said: “This book is the 21st century’s answer to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s as heartwarming as it is mind-bending – while making you laugh in both recognition and self-defence. I can’t think of anything quite like it for some time – much to the delight of our Sales teams – but I do think it disarmingly captures something deep about how it feels to live in the world today, in the manner that many fine authors in the just-invented genre of Brit-Wit have done over the decades. I hope it will speak to readers worldwide, with the empowering (if somewhat alarming) message at its heart, and we are very proud to be publishing it.”
Hunter Murray writes jokes and journalism for Private Eye, hosts the Eye’s podcast Page 94, and co-hosts the podcast No Such Thing as a Fish. He is also the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Friday Night Comedy show, The Naked Week.
He said: “Everything Happens So Much is about a woman who has been avoiding her own life for decades, until she finally comes face to face with herself. It’s also about what happens when you stop trying to inhabit other people’s realities and start living in your own. I’ve been working on this book for about 30 years (on and off) and it’s wonderful to know it’s finally going to be out this November. I’m now working on the sequel, which will be out in 2056.”
Wood added: “Comedy in novels is incredibly hard to get right and humour with real emotional depth is tougher still. But I fell for Esme from the first page – who doesn’t secretly fear they may be living the very worst version of their own life? This is a special novel. One that made me laugh, and truly care, all the way to the end.”
