The Young Team: Granta Best of Young British Novelists 2023

Product Information

It’s very, very quick, and afterwards, you don’t always remember things, and that’s just adrenaline. This is certainly a step above most gang culture novels, there are some lovely and powerful moments in here. I found out about this book because I saw the launch advertised on the Skinny's twitter feed and went along the event - feel fortunate to have heard the book read by the author himself.

The Young Team Novel to Be Adapted By Synchronicity Films The Young Team Novel to Be Adapted By Synchronicity Films

Based on the real-life experiences of its author, this near-400-page blast of a book follows Azzy from age 14, when he joins the gang that gives the novel its name, through his first sexual experiences, to drug addiction, and finally to rehabilitation at 21, and the promise of a better life – an escape from bleak post-industrial North Lanarkshire. That aside, where Trainspotting (which I also think is excellent) keeps a distance from the day to day, The Young Team is ultra-realistic, and goes into the minutiae of everyday life.Armstrong has stated he wanted his novel to be “an up-to-date rendering of youth culture in Scotland”, and while Irvine Welsh’s depiction of 80s Leith smack addicts undoubtedly informs the book, new substances bring new problems. In both books the overall narrative is about escaping the lower class schemes, escaping the hold drugs have on you, and growing up. You'll get the rhythm of it quickly and find yourself experiencing a world you could never otherwise understand. In 2021, Graeme presented ‘SCOTLAND THE RAVE’, a BBC documentary exploring Scotland’s rave and PCDJ culture, which was subsequently nominated for a BAFTA Scotland and RTS Scotland Award 2022.

Book review: The Young Team, by Graeme Armstrong - The Scotsman

And yet what choice do you have when you’re trapped in years of intergenerational dynamics, like an understudy actor stepping up to take the lead? Graeme is now two-thirds of the way through his second book Raveheart and has just completed a BBC documentary on rave culture with Dj Rankin and Gary McF. In the housing schemes of adjacent Lanarkshire, Scotland’s former industrial heartland, wee boys become postcode warriors. The writing is excellent, the pacing and the way the tension is drawn out in anticipation make this book hard to put down.Me and Azzy are the same person in some respects and in other respects, we’re completely different,” explains Armstrong. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, on Goodreads especially, and I’m glad this book so far has a good amount of reviews catering to those who prefer something a lot more critical. I first came across this author a few months back when he was presenting a BBC documentary, which then drew my attention to this novel.

Graeme Armstrong on The Young Team, gang - The Skinny Graeme Armstrong on The Young Team, gang - The Skinny

Never read something that describes the west of Scotland so accurately and the situations you can find yourself in if you make the wrong choices.Many have thanked him for using Azzy’s character to speak about mental health among young, working class men in a language they would use themselves. I am not sure the book would have the same impact if it was not written in dialect, as for me it puts the reader in place. This is such a nostalgic read, one that had me looking back to those days and reminiscing over some of the best (and worst) days with my muckers, ma pals, ma family. The reason I went to university and studied English, and what probably saved my life, was reading Trainspotting. His bestselling debut novel, ‘THE YOUNG TEAM’, is inspired by his experiences, and was published by Picador in 2020.

TV - The Young Team - The DreamCage TV - The Young Team - The DreamCage

Transitioning from adolescence into manhood, Azzy faces the biggest battle of all – the fight for a different future. The characters were so well drawn and believable and made me look at my old tormentors with new eyes.When he falls for the “subtle n feminine” Monica, he’s confronted by adult emotions for the first time and the insurmountable barrier of class. Aside from the cultural importance of the novel, Armstrong tells a good story - building tension as the stakes get ever higher.