Kopfjudo by Oliver Janik

Oliver Janik's debut novel Kopfjudo tells the story of three people who have lost something and who, in their own way, are finding it again. Advertising star Paul has everything under control. His clients, colleagues, women, and in the evenings, his Sancerre. He is deeply insecure and alone, but his pace of life is too fast for him to realise it. His girlfriend Sophie has recognised this and, perhaps at the last moment, escaped his grasp – but now she too is alone. Everything is becoming too much; Paul can no longer cope. He happens to meet the journalist HaPe Lürremann – who is also running out of strength – but is nonetheless a lifesaver, Paul's lifesaver. Kopfjudo is an urgent love story of people who drift unchecked through their lives and whose paths may or may not meet again. It is a reckoning with a world that tells itself it works, but in fact, it doesn't work at all. A novel full of confidence, though you might not realise it until the very end. And until then, it is a pleasure to read.

Our take: We love Kopfjudo for its candid depiction of love and loss against the backdrop of creative industries. Somehow, we even felt we knew some of the characters personally...

Warning: some readers may experience PTSD of Berlin agency life...