You'll Like It When You Get There: A Life Lived Reluctantly

De: Rhys James

A refreshingly honest look at modern life, and how to get out of living it.

Rhys has lived his entire life with a backdrop of dread. As a child, the sentence he feared most was "come downstairs and say hello." Age 5 he feigned injury to avoid dancing at a wedding, and 25 years later, he celebrated when the venue set on fire moments before what would've been the biggest gig of his life.

You'll Like It When You Get There is a guide to life from someone who doesn't want to do anything, and an exploration of why you possibly shouldn't either. Part comic memoir, part essay collection, join Rhys as he avoids not just social engagements but big life milestones too, like getting married and having children. A deep dive into regret, humiliation, failure and pretending to be French for personal gain. From the Wild West of early internet chatrooms to the sticky circus of the Kavos strip, from redesigning therapy after completing it in just four sessions, to having a full existential breakdown when a Buddhist monk asks him for 5 stars on TripAdvisor.

If you've ever celebrated plans being cancelled with an Andy Murray fist pump, secretly prayed for another lockdown, attempted to start your own nickname, or tried—in vain—to control the outcome of everything you do, then welcome to the club. We close early, obviously.

You'll Like It When You Get There is at once hilarious, insightful and inspiring—even if what it's inspiring you to do is absolutely nothing. This is the introvert's manifesto, the overthinker's dossier, the diary of a wimpy kid.

"A superb tour de force of observational comedy, delivered with punchy, rapid-fire certainty" Chortle

©2025 Rhys James (P)2025 Headline Publishing Group Limited