Alex Kadis is half-British, half-Greek, and grew up in Leyton and Walthamstow, East London. She studied English Literature at Goldsmiths University before embarking on a music journalism career. She was Features Editor at Smash Hits in its heyday (RIP) and has also written for various newspapers and magazines, including Sunday Times Style and Q Magazine. She then went into artist management and now works as a consultant in the music industry. Alex suffers from delusions of grandeur and still believes she will, one day, headline Wembley Stadium.

"This audacious debut novel reminds readers that humor might be the best way to talk about heartbreak. Big Nobody offers us both: It's a hilarious tale of awkward (is there any other kind?) adolescence that is also a moving story of family dysfunction. Don't worry: There's trauma, but there's triumph, too."--Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind and Entitlement

"Big Nobody is hands down the funniest, most original novel I've read in ages; it's also a surprisingly moving story about what it means to strike out on your own in a hostile, bewildering world, told by one of the most memorable new narrators in contemporary fiction. Keep Alex Kadis on your radar--she's a force to be reckoned with. I am totally, utterly, out-of-my-mind obsessed with this book."--Grant Ginder, author of The People We Hate at the Wedding

"Riotously funny, nostalgic, and immensely touching . . . If this isn't a hit I will eat my hat."--Pandora Sykes, author of How Do We Know We're Doing It Right?

"With Big Nobody, a big new voice has arrived in fiction. Chock with wit, whimsy, and the poignancy of unprocessed pain, this book broke my heart one minute and had me belly laughing the next. In Connie, with her resilience and fierce determination to live on her own terms, Alex Kadis has given us a protagonist who will stay with you for a very long time."--Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Olga Dies Dreaming and Anita de Monte Laughs Last

"The way [Kadis] keeps the darkest parts of the book burning hot behind Connie's jokes, lists, nicknames, and wisecracks is both creatively daring and perfectly evocative of the melodramatic emotional shitshow that is adolescence. My Big Fat Greek Coming-of-Age Novel, narrated by one of the great teenage curmudgeons of recent literature."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Bold, hilarious, and surprisingly moving . . . Kadis successfully balances the dark material with Constance's teen ebullience and whimsy. In this joyful novel, being a 'freak' means wielding a double-edged sword."--Publishers Weekly

Publisher: Random House

Pub date: 2026-03-10

Length: 320 pages