Author Rumaan Alam’s star has been on the rise since 2020’s Leave the World Behind, a grim, thoughtful work of literary suspense that follows two disparate families forced to co-exist and rely on one another in the face of catastrophe. Acclaimed by critics and audiences alike upon its release, the book was further bolstered three years later with a well-received adaptation led by Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, and Mahershala Ali. Now, Alam continues his ascent with Entitlement, which likewise considers questions of wealth and identity.
Entitlement centers on Brooke Orr, a young Black woman working at a white octogenarian billionaire's charity organization. Before long, Brooke finds herself falling under the spell of unbridled affluence, allured by the promise of freedom that comes with it. The resulting spiral is a sharply satirical tale that effectively probes questions of altruism, deservedness, consumption, and the seductive power of capital. Alam spoke with us to share further thoughts on what inspired his latest work, the performance of narrator Nicole Lewis, and his favorite listens of 2024.
Alanna McAuliffe: There’s a fascinating, unapologetic boldness to the title of this book: In one word, it conveys so much of the central tension of the story, of what is deserved and by whom. How did you decide to name your fourth novel in this way?
Rumaan Alam: I find it very difficult to land on a title for a book. Entitlement went through many different titles as I was writing it, but I always had a sense that those were placeholders, almost nicknames. I can’t remember at which point Entitlement emerged as a title that might make sense. I initially had a sense that it was a stretch, too bold, or too definitive, but over time I became fond of it. Ultimately, the test of a good title is whether your editor is on board and, happily, mine was!
Both Entitlement and your previous novel, the acclaimed Leave the World Behind, meditate on themes of race and class, privilege and perception. How do you go about exploring these topics in fiction, and how much of your characters and narratives are based on real experiences and individuals?
I think writers have their obsessions—maybe that’s true of artists in every medium, really—and after four books, I’m aware that I’m interested in race and class, privilege and perception. And there are other hobbyhorses I’m fond of: meals and food, family life, friendships fraying over time. I’m not sure why, but I find that the stories I tell inevitably come back to these concerns.
It’s hard to say where the truth is in the fiction. Of course, I draw from my own life, from things that have happened to me or people I know, but by the time I’ve done a dozen or more drafts of a book, these things no longer feel “real” but like something I have invented and burnished.
There’s an interesting dynamic in placing your two latest works in conversation. Whereas Leave the World Behind probes questions of community reliance during times of disaster, Entitlement instead peers into the complicated world of nonprofits and philanthropy. What inspired your lens on each of these modes of aid?
I'm not sure why I was initially drawn to the world of philanthropy, though once you start to consider it, it is surprising to realize how much of contemporary life is touched by philanthropy and the largesse of the billionaire class. Indeed, at points in the writing of the novel I felt rather as Brooke does, ultimately—once you think about money, and its role in our lives, you cannot stop noticing it, and can start to feel a bit ... mad.
Your latest is intensely and deliberately human, a story that reflects uncomfortable truths and near-universal concerns while centering a protagonist that is more complex than simply likable. When you write, do you set out to craft narratives that drive introspection, challenging your audience to look both outward and inward?
One thing I’m quite disinterested in is a likable protagonist. In my experience, people are more complex than that! I don’t know how conscious I am of structuring a book to work thus, but I do think that fiction ought to prompt us to think about the fake people on the page as a way of thinking about ourselves and the other people we know in reality.
We were so excited to hear that powerhouse narrator Nicole Lewis—who worked on some of our recent favorite listens!—would be lending her talents to your latest as well. Do you have any thoughts on her casting and performance you’d like to share?
In the past four years, I have become a devoted audiobook listener, and I know well that a great performer can bring a book to life in a way that is so special. Naturally, I was thrilled by Nicole’s casting. She has the kind of warm, elegant voice that is great company to the reader (something that matters to me when I’m listening to a book), and she has that talent that is so specific but imperative in an audiobook narrator—at once telling the story and acting it. It’s a complicated balancing act—I don’t know how she does it!
In addition to your work as an author, you’re also a prolific reader and literary tastemaker. Are there any standouts of 2024 that you’ve particularly enjoyed so far?
So many. I loved Vinson Cunningham’s debut novel Great Expectations. I was thrilled by Teddy Wayne’s most recent novel, The Winner, and unsettled by Helen Phillips’s Hum.
Three audiobooks I really delighted in this year were Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting, and Adelle Waldman’s Help Wanted, and Claire Lombardo’s Same As It Ever Was. And it’s so wonderful to see books by my pals go out into the world and get such warm receptions—I’m thinking of J. Courtney Sullivan’s The Cliffs, and Rufi Thorpe’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles, and Bobby Finger’s Four Squares. Happily for readers and listeners, there’s no shortage of great books out there.
