Who's Who in Hell: A Novel

By Robert Chalmers

Who's Who in Hell is a compelling, uproarious, and achingly moving story about what happens when our plans for life meet its plans for us. Written with a keen eye and enormous heart that call to mind David Schickler, Nick Hornby, and early Roddy Doyle, Who's Who in Hell is a novel with a voice all its own. Daniel Linnell is a charming, rather hapless young man until he meets Laura -- an unsettlingly feisty American who likes to parachute out of planes on weekends. Recently fired from a job as a relatively unskilled counselor for London's desperate, he meets Laura one night in a bar and quickly finds himself falling for her. At the same time, he finds a new job as an obituarist and is caught up in the day-to-day life of the oddballs who produce a major London daily newspaper. His editor, Whittington, a dyed-in-the-wool English eccentric, initiates him into the pecking order of obituarists vs. news reporters vs. the sports desk; the annual ritual of the drunken Obituaries Outing with all of the octogenarian history buffs who provide their research; and the secret cache of unexpurgated obits of the less-than-angelic, obits that will never see print -- which Whittington keeps in a hollowed-out book in his office. With Whittington's encouragement, Daniel begins to write a Who's Who in Hell -- a mammoth compendium of the evil and damned. Begun for his own amusement, the book takes on a momentum of its own and garners him a publisher's advance. He goes to Kansas to meet Laura's parents. Things are all going beautifully. But it's always then that things have a way of changing. Who's Who in Hell is a delightfully antic, deeply moving novel that captures the joys and agonies of love and the perverse deceptions and unanticipated highs and lows of life. It is sure to establish Robert Chalmers as one of the brightest young writers out of Britain.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802139248
• ISBN13: 9780802139245
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 3.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Will be watching for more from this author

I rarely finish books. It's not a trait I'm proud of. But I'm 19/20ths of the way through this novel and will be looking for more from Robert Chalmers. While the plot ambles a bit, almost to the point that you wonder if there is a real plot at all, I think it reflects the circuitous life path of its major character well. The author writes with wit and economy that I appreciate, and achieves occasional breathtaking moments of beauty or brutality that enter into all our lives, no matter how unextraordinary they may seem to strangers. I really enjoyed this book, and I look forward to reading more as Chalmers grows as a storyteller.

Tragicomedy written with remarkable economy

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel. The central love story between Daniel Linnell and Laura begins with notes of foreboding and constantly passes each difficult test of their relationship in new and imaginative ways. Throughout, Chalmers creates interesting motifs: a bar, a newsroom, rituals of obituarists, that are fresh and well-imagined. When the book takes a long detour to Kansas, he does a fine job of changing the texture of the book from stuffy London to an insular but spread-out small town. Laura's family is well-drawn, and tragedy seems to lurk beneath them all that might make the subject of an entire other novel. My least favorite part of the book was Chalmers insistence on switching between first and last names to describe characters, other than Laura and her co-workers, and in particular the times early in the book when I actually had to stop and remember that "Daniel" and "Linnell" were the same character. Other authors pull this off without you noticing, but it rankled here. My favorite part, and why it deserves five stars, is the way in which Chalmers would plant seeds early in the novel and then use them to great effect later on, without smacking you in the face with them. Situations, jokes, motifs and games people play are described, not particularly emphasized, and then come back to haunt the characters in interesting and either remarkably funny or poignant ways. To describe them would be to ruin the novel, but the three most significant uses come right after they return from America, before a business trip by Daniel and at the very end. As others have noted, the reason for the title itself also disappears quite early in the book, but if you think about it long enough, it comes back at the end, too. A wonderful read that repays the effort to follow what Chalmers is trying to do.

Hit and Miss

Robert Chalmers puts a unique spin on the boy meets girl love story. The plot is less disconnected than it initially appears because the reader doesn't understand the unifying theme until relatively late in the book. The title also proves to be a bit of a red herring. This could lead you, like some of the negative reviewers, to become frustrated with the story. But to leave it at that is a disservice to a fine piece of writing. Chalmers' clear strength is relating the emotional highs and lows of the main character, Daniel. There are several points during the story in which you feel intimately connected to Daniel. The story spans several years the life of Daniel Linnel, a heavy drinking late-20's Brit. As his career shifts from amateur therapist to obituarist, he meets Laura, with whom he instantly falls in love. The rest of the story follows the couple's ups and downs and the resulting emotional rollercoaster ride Daniel takes. Chalmers also succeeds in building strong characters outside of Daniel and Laura. One feels a particular bond with Whittington, Daniel's salty boss and Paul, Laura's estranged brother. On the other hand, one feels particular disdain for Kate, Laura's best friend and Mr. Jardine, Laura's father. The attempts at comedy are largely successful, with a few duds thrown in. But sometimes we get the sense that he's trying a little too hard to concoct a funny antecdote. The ending takes a rather dramatic and unpredictable turn, but it plays towards Chalmers' strengths successfully. A good measure of a successful novel is the strength of emotional response it elicits. This book will make you emotional.

Gripping

This book was absolutely gripping. Although slow to start the rest more than made up for it. This is one deep piece of work. This is a book that you will want to savor--and take time to absorb. I advise that it be read slow; I think it sinks in better not to be read in one sitting. The characters really touched me, their realities--and the details within were absolutely startling at times...I give Mr. Robert Chalmers an A+.

Heaven and Hell

Sorry about the corny title, but I had to think of something. I was given this book on my birthday and pretty much read it straight away. I was really intrigued by the title and the premise. I must say it took me a while to get into it, but after a while I could not stop reading Who's Who, until I finished it in one go.I really wanted the actual compiling of Daniel's book to extend further into the novel, but that's not what it is really about. The relationship between Daniel and Laura is really the crux of the story. At times I was getting (annoyed) with it, but by the end I was hooked. Obviously I will not say what happens, needless to say I had no idea and could not stop telling people about it afterwards.I have read a lot of books recently, very glutinous, but this one stood out becuase of the range of emotions that it produces. The final scene is amazing, I wish I could publish it here, but that would wreck the ending to a bloody brilliant novel.