Damian Barr

‘While its dialect might make The Young Team seem like a story rooted in the specificity of its location, the novel’s exploration of mental health and drug use tells a universal tale of working-class masculinity’

The Skinny

‘This hotly tipped coming-of-age debut … [is] told in a phonetic blast à la Irvine Welsh’

Metro

‘What shines through the story is the reality of life as a young Scot in an employment black spot, where there is an addictive excitement and camaraderie that comes with running with a “team”, but also an all-pervasive anxiety crackling in the background’

Sunday Times

‘One of the most eagerly anticipated and talked about new British titles of the year … takes the reader right inside the mind of the type of angry and troubled young men he grew up among, and as’

Airdrie Advertiser

‘A gritty first novel inspired by the experiences of its author, The Young Team tracks the life of teenager Azzy Williams in a gang, typical of Scotland’s industrial heartland. An instant grunge classic reminiscent of Trainspotting’

Scots Magazine

‘The Young Team is a book full of guts, power, humour and humanity. The beautifully crafted writing sings off the page and the story compels from the first paragraph. This is a community not often seen in literature, depicted by a talented writer who intimately knows that world and the truth of this is seared in every sentence’

Kerry Hudson, author of Lowborn

‘Bright, brittle and boiling with immediacy, this “being there” story is more right-beneath-your-nose than most: a keen, sharp insider view of living on several edges and how place informs character in mysterious ways. His work is vivid, dynamic and sharp as a whip; his capacity to surprise the reader distinct and powerful’

Janice Galloway, author of The Trick is to Keep Breathing

‘Phenomenal. It’s been ages since I read a book so funny, visceral, or powerful’

David Whitehouse, author of Bed and The Long Forgotten

THE YOUNG TEAM

Graeme Armstrong is a Scottish writer from Airdrie. His teenage years were spent within North Lanarkshire’s gang culture. He was inspired to study English Literature following his reading of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting at just sixteen. Alongside overcoming his own struggles with drug addiction, alcohol abuse and violence, he defied expectation to read English as an undergraduate at the University of Stirling, where, after graduating with honours, he returned to study a Master’s in Creative Writing. His debut novel, The Young Team, is inspired by his experiences.

First published 2020 by Picador

This electronic edition published 2021 by Picador
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
The Smithson, 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR
EU representative: Macmillan Publishers Ireland Limited,
Mallard Lodge, Lansdowne Village, Dublin 4
Associated companies throughout the world

www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-1-5290-1734-2

Copyright © Graeme Armstrong 2020

Photograph: Photoshot / TopFoto
Design: Ami Smithson, Picador Art Department

The right of Graeme Armstrong to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.