Iain Reid

About

Iain Reid is a Canadian novelist and essayist known for his unsettling, thought-provoking fiction that blends psychological suspense with philosophical questions about identity and reality. His bestselling novel I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2016) gained international recognition and was adapted into a Netflix film directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Charlie Kaufman. His second novel, Foe (2018), was also adapted into a film starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal. Reid’s later novel, We Spread (2022), which explores aging, memory, and autonomy, was nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award. His writing frequently examines the fragility of human perception and the uncertainties beneath ordinary life. A New Kind of Clean is a collaboration with filmmaker Ellie Foumbi, combining Reid’s distinctive psychological unease with Foumbi’s interest in character-driven stories and complex social questions.

Books on TheBookRoads

All genres Literary Fiction Horror

All themes Identity & Belonging

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A New Kind of Clean

Missy Djalo has spent years chasing her dream of becoming an actress, enduring failed auditions and struggling to escape the shadow of her fractured relationship with her Cameroonian mother. Broke and desperate, she receives an unexpected opportunity to audition for a mysterious company called Air Free. Welcomed into a beautiful house by a charismatic couple, Missy soon realises that the audition is unlike anything she has experienced before. As reality and fantasy begin to blur, she faces an unsettling question: how much of herself must she sacrifice to become the person she longs to be? A surreal, unsettling tale of ambition, memory, and identity, this philosophical horror explores the frightening possibility that achieving your dreams might mean losing yourself.

2027 Canada