Footnote Press, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has pre-empted Jackson Alone, a thrilling prize-winning debut from one of Japan’s brightest new novelists, Jose Ando, and translated by Kalau Almony.
Commissioning editor Serena Arthur acquired UK & Commonwealth Rights (excluding Canada) from Hannah Whitaker at Rights People on behalf of Soho Press.
Nobody at the corporate offices of Athletius Japan knows much about the massage therapist, Jackson—but rumours abound. He used to work as a model, likes to party, he’s gay and he’s mixed race—half-Japanese, half-somewhere-in-Africa-n. Fueling the gossip is the sudden appearance of a violent pornographic video featuring a man who looks a lot like Jackson. When Jackson serendipitously meets three other queer mixed-race guys, he learns he’s not the only one being targeted. Together they concoct a plan: find out who’s responsible and, in the meantime, switch identities and play tricks on people—a boyfriend, a boss—who’ve wronged them, exploiting the fact that nobody can seem to tell them apart.
A short, blistering gut punch of a novel, Jackson Alone is a frank exploration of identity, race, and queerness in contemporary Japan that announces Jose Ando as a singular new talent in the global literary scene.
Kalau Almony said: ‘With Jackson Alone, Jose Ando established himself as one of the few authors in Japan writing about racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities. He pulls the curtain back on the harassment, surveillance, and objectification minorities face in Japan every day. In an interview soon after his debut, Ando said he hopes to write novels that “put weapons in the hands of minorities like himself,” that offer readers the tools to respond when faced with discrimination.’
Serena Arthur said: ‘This short, sharp debut combines the weirdness and multi-perspective of The Vegetarian, the quirky voice and societal analysis of Sayaka Muraka novels and the propulsive writing of literary-leaning thrillers like My Sister the Serial Killer. It is full of brilliant, fresh commentary on race, prejudice, queerness, the internet, fetishism and workplace politics. Jackson Alone is the kind of book that I’ve been looking for the Footnote fiction list so I’m hugely excited to be working closely with Jose, Kalau and Nick to bring it to readers.’
Nick Whitney, Editor at the Soho Press, said: ‘I am so proud to champion the English-language debut of Jose Ando, whose first novel Jackson Alone marked a very major moment in Japanese literature and now has a chance to shine here with Kalau Almony’s deft translation. This is a short, gut-punch of a book: virtuoso, impassioned, strange, wickedly funny, switching rapidly between registers and tones and characters like you’re in the cutting room of a highly sophisticated reality TV show. It’s a book that will linger with readers for a very long time.’
Jackson Alone will be published in January 2026, simultaneously with the US.
