I See You've Called in Dead

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER · One of NPR’s Book We Love 2025 · A Gotham Book Prize Finalist · An Indie Next & LibraryReads Pick · AudioFiles Earphones Award Winner · Library Journal | Audio "Editor's Picks of the Year” · 2026 Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List 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) 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.

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER · One of NPR’s Book We Love 2025 · A Gotham Book Prize Finalist · An Indie Next & LibraryReads Pick · AudioFiles Earphones Award Winner · Library Journal | Audio "Editor's Picks of the Year” · 2026 Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List 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) 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.

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. Bud Stanley is an obituary writer who is afraid to live. Yes, his wife recently left him for a "far more interesting" man. Yes, he goes on a particularly awful blind date with a woman who brings her ex. And yes, he has too many glasses of Scotch one night and proceeds to pen and publish his own obituary. The newspaper wants to fire him. But now the company's system has him listed as dead. And the company can't fire a dead person. The ensuing fallout forces him to realize that life may be actually worth living. As Bud awaits his fate at work, his life hangs in the balance. Given another shot by his boss and encouraged by his best friend, Tim, a worldly and wise former art dealer, Bud starts to attend the wakes and funerals of strangers to learn how to live. Thurber Prize-winner and NYTimes bestselling author John Kenney tells a funny, touching story about life and death, about the search for meaning, about finding and never letting go of the preciousness of life.

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. Bud Stanley is an obituary writer who is afraid to live. Yes, his wife recently left him for a "far more interesting" man. Yes, he goes on a particularly awful blind date with a woman who brings her ex. And yes, he has too many glasses of Scotch one night and proceeds to pen and publish his own obituary. The newspaper wants to fire him. But now the company's system has him listed as dead. And the company can't fire a dead person. The ensuing fallout forces him to realize that life may be actually worth living. As Bud awaits his fate at work, his life hangs in the balance. Given another shot by his boss and encouraged by his best friend, Tim, a worldly and wise former art dealer, Bud starts to attend the wakes and funerals of strangers to learn how to live. Thurber Prize-winner and NYTimes bestselling author John Kenney tells a funny, touching story about life and death, about the search for meaning, about finding and never letting go of the preciousness of life.