Two people make an awkward stab at a relationship, even as both flounder under the realities of modern life. Yes, we’ve seen elements of I Want You to Be Happy before – and it even comes with an endorsement from Sally Rooney. But Jem Calder still succeeds in offering something fresh, and the novel stands on its own two feet as an intricate analysis of love in the 2020s.

Chuck and Joey meet at a nightclub. He is in his thirties, recently single, with a steady job as a senior copywriter. She is in her early twenties and works as a barista. The chapters alternate between their perspectives as their relationship develops.

It’s a very east London book. The couple’s dates include a trip to ‘an independent bookshop, whose branded tote bag they both owned’. The arrival of a Gail’s is a cause for mourning. There’s some of that Rooney-esque satire, so subtle it can be difficult to tell whether it’s satire at all.

Some of the best passages are about living a small life despite the expanse of the city. Scenes take place mostly in Chuck’s flat, in a handful of bars or in the coffee shop where Joey is employed. Chuck, a fully remote employee, works ‘until the light of his screen began jaundicing at six’, a yellow light app standing in for a sunset. He is kind of a loser. If I heard his story relayed to me by a friend, I’d roll my eyes and recognise a type. A man unable to commit to adulthood, who drags things out with his long-term girlfriend before breaking up with her in their thirties. A man in stasis, while the women around him try to move forward, try to build lives. When Joey broaches the subject of what label to put on their relationship, Chuck replies: ‘I like the way things are.’

Calder plays with the assumptions of readers like me. Our ambiguous feelings about Chuck are part of what makes this an entertaining read, as the author hides aspects of him from us in a way that mirrors how he hides from himself.

So we are left to root for Joey, who is more of an open book, though already pretty jaded and adrift. She frets over getting a ‘real’ job, like her friends have (communications assistants, editorial assistants, a token quant trader). The protagonists are well-matched in their loneliness and loose attachment to dreams that they are too shy or tired to pursue. Chuck is a warning about the dangers of failing to act on those wishes while rejecting what else life offers you. We are left hoping Joey has understood the lesson.