John Niven (born 1966) is a Scottish author and screenwriter. His books include ''

Kill Your Friends ''Kill Your Friends'' is the debut novel by the Scottish writer John Niven. It was published in 2008 by William Heinemann. Plot summary The novel is set in 1997 at the height of the Britpop music scene. The protagonist, Steven Stelfox, is unha ...

'', ''The Amateurs'', and ''The Second Coming''.

Career

Born in

Irvine, Ayrshire Irvine ( ; sco, Irvin,
gd, Irbhinn, IPA: English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, graduating in 1991 with First Class honours. For the next ten years, he worked for a variety of record companies, including

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

and Independiente. He left the music industry to write full-time in 2002 and published ''Music from Big Pink'', a book about The Band’s album of the same name, in 2005 (Continuum Press). The book was optioned for the screen by CC Films with a script written by English playwright

Jez Butterworth Jeremy "Jez" Butterworth (born March 1969) is an English playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He has written screenplays in collaboration with his brothers, John-Henry Butterworth, John-Henry and Tom. Life and career In March 1969, But ...

. Niven's breakthrough novel ''Kill Your Friends'' is a satire of the music business, based on his brief career in A&R, during which he passed up the chance to sign

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

and

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

. The novel was published by

William Heinemann William Henry Heinemann (18 May 1863 – 5 October 1920) was an English publisher of Jewish descent and the founder of the Heinemann publishing house in London. Early life On 18 May 1863, Heinemann was born in Surbiton, Surrey, England. Heine ...

in 2008 to much acclaim, with ''The Word'' magazine describing it as "possibly the best British Novel since Trainspotting". It has been translated into seven languages and was a bestseller in Britain and Germany. Niven has since published ''The Amateurs'' (2009), ''The Second Coming'' (2011), ''Cold Hands'' (2012), ''Straight White Male'' (2013), ''The Sunshine Cruise Company'' (2015), ''No Good Deed'' (2017) and ''Kill 'em All'' (2018). He also writes original screenplays with writing partner Nick Ball, the younger brother of British TV presenter

Zoë Ball Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British radio and television presenter. She was the first female host of both ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' and '' The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' for the BBC, and presented the 1990s children's show ''Live & ...

. His journalistic contributions to newspapers and magazines include a monthly column for ''

Q magazine ''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. '' ...

'', entitled "London Kills Me". In 2009 Niven wrote a controversial article for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' newspaper where he attacked the media's largely complacent coverage of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's death. In 2005 he co-wrote the lyrics of two songs on

James Dean Bradfield James Dean Bradfield (born 21 February 1969) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He is known for being the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. Biography Early life B ...

's album ''

The Great Western ''The Great Western'' is the debut solo studio album by the Manic Street Preachers vocalist-guitarist James Dean Bradfield. It was released on 24 July 2006 by record label Columbia. Content The majority of the lyrics are written by Bradfield ...

''. Niven co-wrote the screenplay ''

How to Build a Girl ''How to Build a Girl'' is a 2019 Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film directed by Coky Giedroyc, from a screenplay by Caitlin Moran, based on her 2014 How to Build a Girl (novel), novel of the same name. The film tells the story of J ...

,'' opposite

Caitlin Moran Catherine Elizabeth Moran (; born 5 April 1975) is an English journalist, author, and broadcaster at ''The Times'', where she writes three columns a week: one for the Saturday Magazine, a TV review column, and the satirical Friday column "Celeb ...

, based upon her novel of the same name, directed by

Coky Giedroyc Mary Rose Helen "Coky" Giedroyc (; born 6 February 1963) is an English director known for her work on ''Women Talking Dirty'', '' The Virgin Queen'', ''The Nativity'', and ''Penny Dreadful''. Early life Giedroyc was born in Kowloon on 6 Februar ...

. Niven contributes regularly to ''

Noble Rot Magazine A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Great ...

'', an independent publication about wine and food, and the ''Daily Record''. An

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and a

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, Niven refuses to sing "

God Save the Queen "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...

" on ideological grounds.

Bibliography

* ''Music from Big Pink: A Novella (33 1/3)'' (2005) * '' ''Kill Your Friends'''' (2008) * ''The Amateurs'' (2009) * ''The Second Coming'' (2011) * ''Cold Hands'' (2012) * ''Straight White Male'' (2013) * ''The Sunshine Cruise Company'' (2015) * ''No Good Deed'' (2017, ) * ''Kill 'Em All'' — sequel to ''Kill Your Friends'' (2018, ) * ''The F*ck-it List'' (2020, ) * ''O Brother'' (2023)

Filmography

* The Trip (2021) - Writer * ''

'' - Screenwriter * ''Superviszed'' (2018) - Screenwriter * ''

'' (2015) - Screenwriter * ''

Cat Run ''Cat Run'' is a 2011 American comedy action film directed by John Stockwell. Plot Andorran prostitute and single mother Catalina "Cat" Rona is hired to participate in an orgy in Montenegro along with other escorts, for powerful men including ...

'' (2011) - Screenwriter

References

External links

Author page on Penguin
* https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/kill-your-friends-by-john-niven-780982.html * https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/31/kill-your-friends-review
Interview in Shotsmag Ezine July 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niven, John 1968 births Living people 21st-century Scottish novelists Scottish screenwriters Scottish male novelists Alumni of the University of Glasgow 21st-century British male writers Scottish atheists 21st-century British screenwriters People from Irvine, North Ayrshire Scottish republicans