Self-esteem and the end of the world

For over ten years, a graphic novelist called Luke Healy has invested all of his self-esteem into his career. Then, almost overnight, just as his brother is getting married, both seem to vanish. Spiralling and lacking purpose, he searches for identity – in self-help books, replacement jobs and human connection – and visits cheesy British hotels and abandoned Greek islands. Set against the backdrop of a dangerously changing global climate, with melting ice-caps and flooding cities, ‘Self-Esteem and the End of the World’ spans two decades of tragicomic self-discovery until the unlikely prospect of a Hollywood revival of Luke’s work comes into view – but what might be the cost?