Beginner's Pluck

Ben wrote short stories as a child. At university, he knew he wanted to be a writer.

“I saw my degree as my apprenticeship. I wanted to get some heavy reading under my belt, then I’d be ready.”

Ben took a year out, after his Masters, to decide what to do.

“I did various things, including working as a waiter, and working at the BBC. I was involved in Faulks on Fiction. Afterwards, Sebastian Faulks asked me to do half of the research for the accompanying book. Meanwhile I wrote Noughties. Agent Georgia Garrett took it on.”

Ben is now working on his PhD, which he started in 2010. And he’s writing in parallel.

Who is Ben Masters

Date/place of birth: December 3, 1986/Northampton, England.

Education: Roade Comprehensive, Northampton. Oxford University, BA and Masters. Presently at Cambridge University.

Home: “I live in Cambridge, but still think of Northampton as home.”

Family: Parents and one brother.

The Day Job: Grad student and writer.

Hobbies: “Reading is my favourite thing to do. My second passion is following rugby and basketball. I was once County Captain at basketball.”

Favourite Writers: Saul Bellow. Anthony Burgess; Martin Amis; Angela Carter; JG Ballard; William Golding; HG Wells, and of course all the greats.

Second Novel: “I’m very near to the end of the first draft. It’s more expansive and experimental than Noughties. But I’m top secret about it.”

Top Writing Tip: Read. “All good writers are foremost readers.”

Web/Twitter: Neither.

THE DEBUT

Noughties. Published by Hamish Hamilton at €17.15. Kindle: not yet available to Irish readers.

Set at Oxford University, it traces the last night of Eliot Gould’s time as a student. As he and his friends drink their way around pubs, bars and clubs, Eliot tries to work out how to live the rest of his life. “It’s a comedy about the development of Eliot’s intellect.”

The Verdict: A kind of modern day Lucky Jim.