Not Ready to Adult Yet: A Totally Ill-informed Guide to Life

Not Ready to Adult Yet: A Totally Ill-informed Guide to Life
Iain Stirling

Comedian Iain Stirling is best known as the brilliantly funny voice of the BAFTA-award winning smash hit Love Island. Despite his many accolades, and his mum telling him he’s her ‘special little soldier’ every day, Iain still struggles with everyday adult life. What a textbook millennial.Looking back at his journey to adulthood, Iain explores why millennials are the way they are – and whether that makes us self-obsessed, work-shy, mollycoddled, egomaniacs; or just a misunderstood generation with a crippling fear of failure.Millennials have been celebrated and scorned; they’re the envy, fascination and disgrace of the world. But is there more to this #selfie and avocado-obsessed generation that can’t grow up than meets the eye?Throughout life millennials have been taught that they are perfect and should live a perfect life. They’ve been told, whatever happens, don’t fuck up. And then they enter the real world. And failure quickly rears its ugly head. A head millennials weren’t warned about and definitely aren’t ready for.Iain knows a lot about fucking up. And he’s ready to share.Funny, provocative and full of his trademark razor-sharp wit, this is Iain’s guide to what life is really like for millennials and how they can navigate it better.

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Copyright (#u9d2479f7-704f-587b-bc80-2d15bcff91b1)

HarperCollinsPublishers

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First published by HarperCollins 2018

FIRST EDITION

© Iain Stirling 2018

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2018

Cover photograph © Jay Brooks 2018

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Iain Stirling asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008288006

Ebook Edition © August 2018 ISBN: 9780008288020

Version: 2018-06-21

Dedication (#u9d2479f7-704f-587b-bc80-2d15bcff91b1)

To my mum Alison, my dad Rodger and my sister Kirsten. This book isn’t for you, it’s because of you. I love you.

CONTENTS

Cover (#u87d7d66b-3f47-5f8c-b293-3a4b2edc7a24)

Title Page (#u21e97c71-01e5-5a82-89fc-af1375f8820c)

Copyright (#ub9186a33-525d-5e79-8165-70143bf143e4)

Dedication (#ua2371502-e9ea-58f3-acd6-f8d617e821fd)

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN ADULT (#ubbec129e-9fd0-589f-bfcf-78ea60253950)

INTRODUCTION

I ONCE TOLD AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD TO GO FUCK HIMSELF (#u814be43a-957f-5942-8bde-ecea3219cfb6)

CHAPTER 1

BAD PARENTING (#udaf89796-cec8-5ce8-b783-b20c42663f55)

Mollycoddled

CHAPTER 2

SCHOOLED (#u2572e29c-c7aa-55f0-a7b1-703c35361fcf)

‘The Best Days of Your Life …’

CHAPTER 3

LIFE ON THE SMALL SCREEN (#u190e13fe-ea0a-5869-83cc-cb1f876416dc)

The Years BW (Before Wi-fi )

CHAPTER 4

U OK HUN? (#u6bd24857-a122-5424-ab87-0bcaeb1f8094)

The Power of Love … Island

CHAPTER 5

THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER (#u839a8cc7-e325-5599-892c-97df7cfa925c)

We’re All Fake Happy

CHAPTER 6

NINE TILL FIVE … (#u05b094b8-e1a2-5c67-bc35-c73300e89841)

What a Way to Make a Living (Apparently)

CHAPTER 7

SNOWFLAKES (#u0f0b69bc-2432-5a06-85e7-23dd218d6cca)

A Generation that Likes to (Political) Party Hard

CHAPTER 8

FEAR OF FAILURE (#u7eaf3d4f-0b62-5c9d-a39a-52185384eee1)

Here Comes the Science Bit …

CONCLUSION

THE INSPIRATIONAL SPEECH MOMENT (#u81b04b69-484c-5bc2-8c03-2f7792b41bb3)

A TREAT FOR THOSE WHO’VE SKIPPED TO THE BACK (#ue33875cb-2dc9-59f8-bdc8-e062bc5c3fa2)

‘The Millennial Circle’

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (#u78d6796d-01ba-56e9-a028-53b49ca31a04)