The narrator’s voice is playful and that of an insider.
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In his debut novel Wimmy Road Boyz, Sufiyaan Salam takes the oft-repeated (and frankly, Anglocentric) dictum “show, don’t tell” to its most creative conclusion: crafting prose that not only narrates a story but is also self-reflexive about the very act of narration itself.The Manchester-based author writes in a multilingual, conversational mode that mirrors the internal and external linguistic landscape inhabited by his British Pakistani characters. The story opens with the introduction of 22-year-old Immy, described as “something of a bad-boy muslim slut who don’t never text back”. He is meeting up with 23-year-old Khan, a “cambridge-educated paki… the type to recite Warren Buffet epigrams like they’re hadiths” and Haris, also 23, an ever-anxious, soon-to-be-wed artist who is perpetually grappling with the ways in which his faith can come into conflict with his art and who is prone to philosophical asides about the larger meaning of life.The story begins with the trio on a night out along Manchester’s Wilmslow (Wimmy) Road — or the Curry Mile as it is also known. Each friend is battling his own inner demons while trying to make the most of the precious time they have together. The novel unfolds as a retelling of this adventurous night, one that changes the lives of all three friends forever.Political commentaryThe narrative is jumpy, resembling the act of doomscrolling, yet ironically, this very quality keeps the reader’s attention from drifting away from the text for even a second. In an era of ambient content consumption, Wimmy Road Boyz is a rare exception. While its sentences may initially appear syntactically careless, the novel’s overall design is a masterclass in literary manoeuvring. The omniscient narrator’s voice is playful and unmistakably that of an insider to the world of these twentysomething friends.The stream-of-consciousness writing takes the reader on a journey through a shared British South Asian male experience. Interestingly, while referring to the women characters in the novel, whose perspectives are sometimes focalised, the narrator shifts into the second person, addressing them with an intimate “you”.While the main action centres on this one unforgettable boys’ night, it is the women who drive the narrative forward. Though one might have wished for a more detailed portrait of their lives, they never come across as underwritten characters or mere plot conveniences.To say more would be to reveal too much and thus, do a disservice to a novel that is written to be experienced. Despite its light tone, the novel is far from a comforting read. Divided into time-stamped sections, the narrative is rife with political commentary on the state of affairs in the contemporary neo-colonial geopolitical landscape.
