Taut, lyrical and utterly gripping - the internationally award-winning and bestselling debut
A fizzing headrush of a novel about four boys coming of age on the deprived outskirts of Oslo
'A gut punch of a debut [in] hurricane prose' Times Literary Supplement
'Raw and unfiltered, I was hooked from the very first page' Service95
Last night i got woke up by marco ringing, and he was crying, he said, he died ivor, he died, and i didnt need to hear who to know, i just hung up.
Ivor and Marco have been getting high since they were thirteen, started dealing at fourteen, by fifteen they were carrying knives. At sixteen years old, they hurtle from one trip to the next, one fight to the next, always watching their backs. Ivor dreams of getting out - finishing school, becoming a lawyer, marrying the girl he loves from the corner shop - but the path he's on only leads one way.
In flashes of firecracker prose, shot through with rare empathy, irrepressible wit and gut-punch pathos, Oliver Lovrenski gives voice to young men growing up in a brutal and chaotic world.
WINNER of the Oslo City Artist Prize and the Norwegian Booksellers Prize
SHORTLISTED for the Brage Award and the Tarjei Vesaas Debut PrizE
SHORTLISTED for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize
LONGLISTED for the European Literature Prize
| ISBN: | 9781405968157 |
| Publication date: | 16th April 2026 |
| Author: | Oliver Lovrenski |
| Publisher: | Penguin Books an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 240 pages |
| Genres: |
Modern and Contemporary Fiction Drugs and alcohol: social aspects Narrative theme: Coming of age Narrative theme: Politics Narrative theme: Social issues Fiction in translation |
Taut, lyrical and utterly gripping - the internationally award-winning and bestselling debut
A fizzing headrush of a novel about four boys coming of age on the deprived outskirts of Oslo
'A gut punch of a debut [in] hurricane prose' Times Literary Supplement
'Raw and unfiltered, I was hooked from the very first page' Service95
Last night i got woke up by marco ringing, and he was crying, he said, he died ivor, he died, and i didnt need to hear who to know, i just hung up.
Ivor and Marco have been getting high since they were thirteen, started dealing at fourteen, by fifteen they were carrying knives. At sixteen years old, they hurtle from one trip to the next, one fight to the next, always watching their backs. Ivor dreams of getting out - finishing school, becoming a lawyer, marrying the girl he loves from the corner shop - but the path he's on only leads one way.
In flashes of firecracker prose, shot through with rare empathy, irrepressible wit and gut-punch pathos, Oliver Lovrenski gives voice to young men growing up in a brutal and chaotic world.
WINNER of the Oslo City Artist Prize and the Norwegian Booksellers Prize
SHORTLISTED for the Brage Award and the Tarjei Vesaas Debut PrizE
SHORTLISTED for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize
LONGLISTED for the European Literature Prize
Back in the Day features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Drugs and alcohol: social aspects, Narrative theme: Coming of age, Narrative theme: Politics, Narrative theme: Social issues, Fiction in translation
Back in the Day is available in Paperback, Hardback
Back in the Day was written by Oliver Lovrenski and published by Penguin Books an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd
Back in the Day has 240 pages
£8.99