Across the literary pages: Ned Beauman

London doesn’t really have a literary hipster scene, but if it did, Ned Beauman would be centre stage. The 27-year-old novelist may look like he’s crawled out of an evolution of man diagram, but he’s very clever and very trendy and, despite having gone to Cambridge, knows a lot about ketamine. His show-offy but energetic first book, Boxer Beetle, came out in 2010 to deafening acclaim and earnt him a six-figure publishing deal, unheard of in these austere times unless you’re a dog who’s won a talent contest. After spending a couple of years hanging out with cool, arty people in Brooklyn and Berlin, Beauman is back in town to promote his new book, The Teleportation Accident. Although, judging by the interview he gave to the Observer yesterday, ‘promote’ may not be the best word for it.

Asked if he felt under pressure to produce a successful follow-up, Beauman replied:

‘Boxer, Beetle got a lot of praise and a little bit of criticism.