I See You've Called in Dead: A Novel
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A 2025 NPR “Books We Love” Pick

USA Today April Pick

“Razor—sharp, darkly comedic, and emotionally piercing. With the satirical bite of Richard Russo’s Straight Man, the introspection of Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove, and the reinvention of Andrew Sean Greer's Less, Kenney’s vivid prose transforms the mundane into unexpected hilarity.”
Booklist (starred review)

An Indie Next & LibraryReads Pick
Winner of the AudioFiles Earphones Award

The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy in this coming—of—middle—age tale about having a second chance to write your life’s story.

Obituary writer Bud Stanley isn’t really living his best life. He’s fallen into a funk after a divorce. (She left him for another man, who, in fairness, was far more interesting.) He’s not doing his job well. He’s given up on dating. And he’s about to be fired for accidentally publishing his own obituary one mildly drunken night (though technically the company can’t legally fire a dead person).

As Bud awaits his fate at work, he does the only logical thing: He goes to the wakes and funerals of total strangers to learn how to live again.

1146019461
I See You've Called in Dead: A Novel
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A 2025 NPR “Books We Love” Pick

USA Today April Pick

“Razor—sharp, darkly comedic, and emotionally piercing. With the satirical bite of Richard Russo’s Straight Man, the introspection of Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove, and the reinvention of Andrew Sean Greer's Less, Kenney’s vivid prose transforms the mundane into unexpected hilarity.”
Booklist (starred review)

An Indie Next & LibraryReads Pick
Winner of the AudioFiles Earphones Award

The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy in this coming—of—middle—age tale about having a second chance to write your life’s story.

Obituary writer Bud Stanley isn’t really living his best life. He’s fallen into a funk after a divorce. (She left him for another man, who, in fairness, was far more interesting.) He’s not doing his job well. He’s given up on dating. And he’s about to be fired for accidentally publishing his own obituary one mildly drunken night (though technically the company can’t legally fire a dead person).

As Bud awaits his fate at work, he does the only logical thing: He goes to the wakes and funerals of total strangers to learn how to live again.

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I See You've Called in Dead: A Novel

I See You've Called in Dead: A Novel

by John Kenney
I See You've Called in Dead: A Novel

I See You've Called in Dead: A Novel

by John Kenney

Hardcover

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Overview

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A 2025 NPR “Books We Love” Pick

USA Today April Pick

“Razor—sharp, darkly comedic, and emotionally piercing. With the satirical bite of Richard Russo’s Straight Man, the introspection of Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove, and the reinvention of Andrew Sean Greer's Less, Kenney’s vivid prose transforms the mundane into unexpected hilarity.”
Booklist (starred review)

An Indie Next & LibraryReads Pick
Winner of the AudioFiles Earphones Award

The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy in this coming—of—middle—age tale about having a second chance to write your life’s story.

Obituary writer Bud Stanley isn’t really living his best life. He’s fallen into a funk after a divorce. (She left him for another man, who, in fairness, was far more interesting.) He’s not doing his job well. He’s given up on dating. And he’s about to be fired for accidentally publishing his own obituary one mildly drunken night (though technically the company can’t legally fire a dead person).

As Bud awaits his fate at work, he does the only logical thing: He goes to the wakes and funerals of total strangers to learn how to live again.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9798989923014
Publisher: Zibby Publishing
Publication date: 04/01/2025
Pages: 304
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

John Kenney is the New York Times bestselling author of Love Poems for Married People and the novels Talk to Me and Truth in Advertising, which won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He is a longtime contributor to The New Yorker and lives in Larchmont, New York.
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