Wimmy Road Boyz by Sufiyaan Salam
Sufiyaan Salam's debut novel is an unflinching, if somewhat unfocused, exploration of modern day masculinity
Wimmy Road Boyz is a cinematic story revolving around three friends in Manchester: Immy, Khan and Haris. Sufiyaan Salam is quick to set up the story: by the end, someone is going to die. What takes place is a tumultuous final night when each young man must come face to face with his greatest traumas and deepest secrets.
Salam is unflinching in his portrayal of modern masculinity and its intersection with religion, class and sexuality. His prose is lyrical and refreshing with striking turns of phrase, like when Haris opens up TikTok to find somewhere for the boys to eat. “my g. can’t be letting random conglomerates make all your big-man decisions,” advise his friends who take the piss out of Haris’s earnestness. The novel is peppered with similar moments of humorous poetry.
Ultimately, this ambitious novel gets caught up in its filmic storytelling, bringing in too many secondary and tertiary characters. Rather than focusing on the pain at the heart of Immy, Khan and Haris, Salam expands his frame to include long lost family members, one-night stands, and a Take Back the Night march that just so happens to be staged as the boys are hurtling down the Curry Mile. These side quests offer counterpoints to his three main characters, but they also distract from the heart of Salam’s audacious examination of what it is to be a man.
