World Productions has optioned You People, the upcoming third novel from Man Booker longlisted author Nikita Lalwani, for TV adaptation.
You People explores the world of Pizzeria Vesuvio, and its enigmatic proprietor Tuli, who uses his south London restaurant to provide essential (but barely legal) services for those in need.
Nia, haunted by her troubled past, is running from her family. Shan, having fled the Sri Lankan civil war, is desperate to find his. These two lost souls are drawn into Tuli’s charismatic orbit. But when his mysterious operation begins to unravel, each is faced with an impossible human dilemma.
Author Nikita Lalwani said: “You People is a book about the moral choices we face in contemporary Britain, and I can’t think of anyone better placed to dramatise it. It’s genuinely thrilling to be working with World – they have an astonishing pedigree and unflinching eye on the world we find ourselves in right now.”
Head of Drama for World Productions, Jake Lushington, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Nikita on adapting her ground-breaking novel. You People is a rare thing: a fresh and urgent story of the struggles and realities asylum seekers face in an ethnically diverse and thriving London. It places values and the relationship between London and the rest of the world at its core, at a time when that could not be more relevant.”
The deal with the Bodyguard and Line of Duty producer was brokered by Luke Speed at Curtis Brown Group. You People will be published by Viking UK (Penguin Random House) on 2nd April. It has recently been purchased for US publication by McSweeney’s, the publishing house founded by Dave Eggers, and will be published in the States later this year.
PHOTO CREDIT: Vik Sharma
Jon Creamer
Share this story
