Sally Rooney interview:   'It’s my job to write about whatever comes into my head'

At 30, the Normal People author is already the most talked-about novelist of her generation. As she publishes her third novel, Beautiful World Where Are You, she’s bracing for more (unwanted) attention

Sally Rooney: ‘The world does have a way of intruding.’

Sally Rooney appears before a stark, white background, stripped of even the most incidental feature. It makes me laugh: in 18 months of Zoom meetings, I’ve encountered people in their bedrooms and home offices, in front of bookcases and windows – situations that, no matter how bland or contrived, still betray some minor, contextualising detail. The empty staging today is, evidently, something that Rooney, after two hit novels and the rapid onset of unwelcome fame, clearly wishes might extend further than a video call.

 Later in our conversation, she will tell me celebrity is a condition that, in many cases, “happens without meaningful consent – the famous person never even wanted to become famous”. Now, after exchanging greetings, I mention the singularity of the naked white walls and she laughs and says merely, “Yes.”