Katy Brent talks about the books that inspired her when she was writing her debut comedy thriller, How to Kill Men and Get Away With It.
I first started to write what would become How To Kill Men and Get Away With It back in 2018 when I started a Faber online course. My vague pitch line at the time was ‘a stabby Sex and the City.’ I’d always wanted to write about a world where a woman just snapped after seeing her friends being treated terribly by men. As the little seed of an idea began to sprout, I started wondering what would happen if this woman lived in a world inhabited by those in Made In Chelsea. The excess in shows like this always made me think of Bret Easton Ellis’ use of excess in American Psycho. And that’s how the first draft was born.
I had so much fun writing this book and it gave me a long-overdue opportunity to revisit some of my favourite books that inspired me. Each of the books below played a part in creating Kitty Collins and I will forever be grateful to the authors.
Dirty Weekend by Helen Zahavi
This book is set in 90s Brighton and has many similar themes to the ones I wanted to explore in HTKM. The narrator, Bella, shares a lot of traits with my protagonist/antagonist, Kitty Collins. Bella’s a former sex worker and moves to Brighton where she attracts the attention of several men. When she is assaulted, and then harassed, via her landline she goes to the police who are completely unhelpful. What a shock, right? So, Bella reaches a point where she has had en-absolute-nough of being scared and of being a victim. So, like Kitty, she decides to take matters into her own hands over the course of a weekend. I read this book for the first time in 2018 and it’s shocking how prescient it is. 30 years later and women are still being hassled and harassed by men.
America Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
It’s really not possible to write a book about a serial killer without mentioning American Psycho. For me, How To Kill Men is a bit of a love letter to this book. I just adore it. It’s super gory, yes, and not for everyone but the text as a social commentary is something that I’ve always loved. It really mocks the materialistic yuppie culture of the 1980s and I wanted to emulate this vibe with the social media culture of today. Fans of this book will spot a little tribute scene in HTKM where Kitty uses pages of a magazine to absorb blood from one of her kills. When Patrick Bateman kills Paul Owen, he lines the floor with USA Today, W and The New York Times. Kitty uses Vogue.
Kill Your Friends by John Niven
This is one of my favourite novels and a go-to whenever I want something dark but also devastatingly funny. Niven’s main character, Steven Stelfox, is hilariously malevolent as he tries to make it to the top in the world of music A&R. I loved this book, which is set in the world of 90s Britpop, because it takes me back to my teens. Also, because Steven Stelfox is an extremely unpleasant character, but he’s completely compelling. His alliterative name makes me happy as it’s something I have a thing for.
There’s also a brilliant follow-up, Kill Them All, set 20 years later which is equally hilarious, mad and dark. I love that Stelfox wasn’t oversaturated as a character with loads of sequels. This worked perfectly for me.
Sex and the City by Candace Bushell
There’s not much I can say about this book – and obviously the TV series – that hasn’t been said before. I was never a huge fan of the show, but I have always loved the way female friendship is explored. In How To Kill Men, Kitty has a close group of friends and it’s these women who she wants to protect initially, after seeing them go through some of the horrors of modern dating. With her parents out of the picture and no other family, Kitty’s friends are her family. How far would we go to keep the ones we love safe and happy?
You by Caroline Kepnes
If there is one book that truly made me want to write a story from a killer’s perspective, it’s this one. Joe Goldberg is undoubtedly a despicable man, but there’s something about being inside his head that is intoxicating. I’ve read first-person serial killer books before picking up You, but I didn’t root for the murderer in the same way I did Joe. Kepnes has created a character that, even though he’s appalling, he’s still got this appeal to him. He’s smart, well-read and devastatingly funny. It’s almost a shame that he’s also an obsessive psychopath. He’d be my fictional dream man otherwise! I love how Kepnes turns the trope of the rom-com hero into something extremely twisted with Joe. It’s perfect and one of my favourite books of all time.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
The strapline on this – a serial killer with a heart, just make sure it’s not yours – was one of those things that just stuck in my craw for years. I read these books after the TV show had started airing because I was fascinated by the idea of a serial killer who really didn’t want to be one, but decided to harness those compulsions into something good. With Kitty, I thought making her vegan would be a good way to demonstrate that she does actually have a conscience. And the idea of a vegan serial killer was hilarious. To me at least. Putting her smack bang in the meat production industry also seemed to work. And give her the means of being able to #GetAwayWithIt.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
One thing I loved about this book (not the only thing, it’s great on many levels) is how the protagonist is profoundly unlikeable, but you’re still compelled to read on. Like Kitty, she is privileged – rich and beautiful – and like Kitty, she mentions it A LOT. Also like Kitty, she’s without parents and therefore kind of rudderless in her world. The unnamed main character decides to take so many drugs that she sleeps for a year. Moshfegh’s book talks a lot about the drugs she takes to try and get to sleep for a year and how they affect the narrator as she tries to find that oblivion. There’s a point in How To Kill Men where Kitty seeks total oblivion through prescription pills after something very bad happens. It doesn’t end very well for Kitty, but there’s a definite nod to Moshfegh’s book in this section.
How to Kill Men and Get Away With It is out in eBook and audio now.
