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The rising stars of 2026: discover the must-read debut novels of the year

Sufiyaan Salam

Compulsive, raw and searingly honest. An utterly original, unfiltered voice. A darkly witty story of Northern rude-bois coming of age: perfectly crafted, uncensored, totally real

Freewheeling, risk-taking and ceaselessly fun, this intense, multi-voiced novel is immense in its ambition and singular in its achievement. It really is one hell of a ride

A landmark debut that will inspire many books after it. Salam’s prose flows with wit and feeling. You will love Wimmy Road Boyz.

Wimmy Road Boyz has a rhythm and style all its own, pushing the boundaries of language, full of storytelling energy and voices that feel true to the lives Salam has expertly created. A novel no one else could have written, Sufiyaan Salam is a writer I hope to see keep pushing the boundaries of what contemporary fiction can show us

Sufiyaan Salam is the sort of writer where his age astounds. That someone so young could write something so chaotically brilliant, ingenious, and utterly dazzling is a feat in itself. WIMMY ROAD BOYZ is an intense cacophonous ride easily read and not easily forgotten, a polyphonic narrative of epic proportions

'The energy of Salam's work was beyond . . . dazzling in its daring and reach'

WINNER OF THE 2023/24 #MERKY BOOKS NEW WRITERS’ PRIZE 
 
AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST 2026A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2026 IN BRICKS MAGAZINE, DUA LIPA'S SERVICE95 AND BBC'Riotous. . .raucous, wildly inventive' THE OBSERVER'Inventive and highly enjoyable' BBC BOOKS OF THE YEAR'An energetic-livewire masterpiece' NIKESH SHUKLA 
 
'A landmark debut that will inspire many books after it. Salam’s prose flows with wit and feeling. You will love Wimmy Road Boyz' NICOLA DINAN 
 
'Compulsive, raw and searingly honest. An utterly original, unfiltered voice. A darkly witty story of Northern rude-bois coming of age: perfectly crafted, uncensored, totally real' NUSSAIBAH YOUNIS 
 
'A novel no one else could have written, Sufiyaan Salam is a writer I hope to see keep pushing the boundaries of what contemporary fiction can show us' DEREK OWUSU 
 
'Freewheeling, risk-taking and ceaselessly fun, this intense, multi-voiced novel is immense in its ambition and singular in its achievement. It really is one hell of a ride' GURNAIK JOHAL 
 
'The energy of Salam's work was beyond . . . dazzling in its daring and reach' JACQUELINE CROOKS 
 
'...Brilliant, ingenious, and utterly dazzling... WIMMY ROAD BOYZ is an intense cacophonous ride easily read and not easily forgotten, a polyphonic narrative of epic proportions.' KASIM ALI 
 
three boyz drive & dream 
of an impossible night 
on an endless street. . . 
 
a white bimmer hurtles down manchester’s curry mile, carrying three brown boys in pursuit of a wild night out, oi oi oi! 
 
there’s IMMY (22) – nursing mad heartbreak but tryna get over it by chirpsing someone new, hoping to distract from the scores of rage bubbling up beneath. . . 
 
there’s KHAN (23) – cambridge-gangster on a mission to avenge, losing himself to old stereotypes, illegal ventures on the sly. . . 
 
and there’s HARIS (23) – the sensitive type, getting married next week but having second thoughts, feeling mad para about his day ones discovering all his secrets. 
 
it’s an evening of chaos and mischief. three boys with nothing to do and something to prove. of course there’s gonna be trouble. 
 
and look, what the boys don’t know: this night might just be their last. . . 
 
WIMMY ROAD BOYZ is a blistering story of masculinity, violence and love set over the course of a single, surreal night from a wholly original new British talent.

Sufiyaan Salam

Praise for Wimmy Road Boyz

Compulsive, raw and searingly honest. An utterly original, unfiltered voice. A darkly witty story of Northern rude-bois coming of age: perfectly crafted, uncensored, totally real

Freewheeling, risk-taking and ceaselessly fun, this intense, multi-voiced novel is immense in its ambition and singular in its achievement. It really is one hell of a ride

A landmark debut that will inspire many books after it. Salam’s prose flows with wit and feeling. You will love Wimmy Road Boyz.

Compulsive, raw and searingly honest. An utterly original, unfiltered voice. A darkly witty story of Northern rude-bois coming of age: perfectly crafted, uncensored, totally real

Freewheeling, risk-taking and ceaselessly fun, this intense, multi-voiced novel is immense in its ambition and singular in its achievement. It really is one hell of a ride

A landmark debut that will inspire many books after it. Salam’s prose flows with wit and feeling. You will love Wimmy Road Boyz.

Compulsive, raw and searingly honest. An utterly original, unfiltered voice. A darkly witty story of Northern rude-bois coming of age: perfectly crafted, uncensored, totally real

Freewheeling, risk-taking and ceaselessly fun, this intense, multi-voiced novel is immense in its ambition and singular in its achievement. It really is one hell of a ride

A landmark debut that will inspire many books after it. Salam’s prose flows with wit and feeling. You will love Wimmy Road Boyz.

Articles featuring Sufiyaan Salam

The rising stars of 2026: discover the must-read debut novels of the year

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