Charlie Campbell
Charlie represents a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, both literary and commercial. He is looking for original work and to build long-lasting and significant careers for his clients.
His first job in the books world was at Literary Review, where he reviewed both fiction and non-fiction and became deputy editor. After three years he moved into agenting, first as a maternity cover at Johnson & Alcock, before moving to Ed Victor Ltd, where he spent ten years, building his list and learning from one of the greatest literary agents in the business. He also worked on the film and TV side there, as well as handling audio and speaking engagements for the agency’s clients.
He set up his own agency in 2014, believing that independent companies have a vital role in launching new talent. In 2022, Sam Edenborough joined as Rights Director and they renamed the agency Greyhound Literary. Their focus is on books with international appeal, with early successes including Victoria Belim’s extraordinary memoir The Rooster House.
Recent fiction that he loved include Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain, a bleak and tragic story written with such warmth and love for its characters that the reader cannot help but be uplifted; Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer; anything Jonathan Coe writes; likewise Gwendoline Riley. And he is always on the lookout for humour.
In crime and thriller, Philip Kerr’s novels starring Bernie Gunther set the standard. Gunther is a Berlin police detective struggling to remain untainted in 1930s Germany and rubs shoulders with prominent Nazis. The depth of research is remarkable and yet the narrative never sags under its weight. He also loves Jane Harper, Mick Herron, Michael Connelly and SJ Parris.
This may not be a golden age for travel writing, but Charlie would love to find a modern successor to Norman Lewis, with the same eye for the absurd. Otherwise in non-fiction, he is keen on sport – Al Alvarez’s The Biggest Game in Town is a stone-cold classic. Andre Agassi’s Open set incredibly high standards for other sports stars (and Prince Harry). Also, anything resembling John Lanchester’s writing on economics for the LRB. His outsider’s eye and ability to communicate the complexities of finance outweigh the fact that he hasn’t worked in the sector for decades. And Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article about the death of a teenager in London was one of the most extraordinary pieces of writing he has read recently.
What Charlie would most love to find is a book to change people’s minds and make them consider issues slightly differently, at a time when we need this perhaps more than ever. Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black was one such book, with its searing and sensitive portrayal of a medium and the suffering in her past.
Lastly he believes that every list should have one book quite unlike any other. Leanne Shapton’s Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris: Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry remains one of the most unusual and brilliant books he’s seen published in recent years. It’s the story of a relationship told from start to finish in a fictional auction catalogue of the couple’s possessions. He hopes he will always be open to a submission like this.
