‘Where’s the gay version of Bridget Jones or Adrian Mole?’ Cal Speet on his debut novel Spiralling

Cal Speet’s debut Spiralling (published earlier this year) is a witty, heartfelt portrait of queer friendship, heartbreak and rebuilding in Manchester. Following Gabriel, a gay man in his twenties whose life unravels after a breakup and job loss, the novel explores how we pick ourselves back up — through humour, sex, messy friendships, and the unexpected people who pull us through.

PinkNews speaks to Cal about northern storytelling, writing flawed characters with compassion, and why pop culture footnotes felt essential to Gabriel’s voice.

For those new to Spiralling, can you give us a quick overview?

Spiralling is the story of a gay man in his 20s who lives in Manchester and whose life essentially falls apart — romantically and professionally. It’s about how we rebuild from trauma and unexpected moments in our lives, often through friendship, humour as a coping mechanism, relationships, sex, and sometimes from sources you don’t expect.

What was the first spark that made you realise this story needed to be told?

Growing up, we had these hilarious stories — things like Bridget Jones or Adrian Mole. But I thought: where are the gay versions of those? We’re culturally so ready for funny, relatable, down-to-earth stories about all the things that make us human, but also specifically queer.

I’ve always been a massive Sex and the City fan. Seeing that core group of women made me think about the friendships in my own life — funny, effervescent queer people, girls, whoever. I wanted to transpose that dynamic into a novel and make something readable, comedic, and through a queer lens.

The title is Spiralling. What does that mean in the context of Gabriel’s story?

Gabriel has a thought pattern that I think a lot of us fall into after trauma: you prepare for the worst by predicting it. Instead of entering new situations, dating after heartbreak, starting a new job after being fired, with optimism, you spiral. You imagine worst-case scenarios before they’ve even happened.

For me, “spiralling” has that double meaning. It’s about those destructive thought loops, but also about climbing back up again.

Manchester feels like a character in the book. Which parts of the city shaped Gabriel’s voice?

That’s exactly what I wanted — to make Manchester a living, breathing part of the story. The city offers so much by way of eclectic characters, and I wanted Gabriel to inhabit that.

So, places like Ancoats, the Northern Quarter, New Islington, the Village — these are where Gabriel would hang out. They’re full of vibrant, interesting people. There are also jokes about Spinningfields, because I felt Gabriel would probably turn his nose up at a certain kind of snobbery.

When we get novels set in London or New York, each district has its own character. Manchester is no different. Every area has its own flavour, and I wanted readers to feel that.

You’ve spoken about wanting a northern perspective. How did that shape the story?

So much of my lived experience, and Gabriel’s, is tied to the north. A character like Paul really embodies that for me. He’s rough around the edges, not always politically correct, makes mistakes, but he’s got a big, warm heart.

That, to me, is northern soul. There’s this refusal to take life too seriously, even when it’s hard. Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s our economic history, but there’s this grit and humour that I wanted the book to capture.

Friendship really drives the novel. Did Tasha or Evie ever try to steal the story from Gabriel?

Definitely. At first I leaned more towards Tasha, because I knew her storyline would intersect with Gabriel’s. But Evie started stealing the show as the draft went on with her tender moments and her one-liners.

That said, it was always Gabriel’s story at its heart. Still, I wanted to give Tasha and Evie enough backstory and voice so that, if I ever wanted to write a sequel, one of them could take the spotlight.

The book is funny, but the humour never feels cruel. How did you balance jokes with compassion?

For me, it was important to let the characters overstep sometimes, because that’s real life. We’ve all told a joke at the wrong time and regretted it later. Tasha in particular has moments where she’s acerbic when tenderness was needed.

But then she softens later, because that’s also real — we patch things up. I tried to make sure nothing crossed into being deliberately hurtful, but the flaws of Gabriel and Tasha especially are that they lean into humour when they should be vulnerable.

The dialogue is sharp, northern and very natural. Do you have rules for keeping it real?

I thought a lot about how group chats and conversations replace what used to be internal monologue. Something happens in our lives, and we immediately tell our friends — often before processing it ourselves.

That gave me a tool to replace “I thought, I thought, I thought” with fast-moving dialogue. It kept momentum and made the book feel modern. In edits, I had to cut a lot of the longer conversations down, but writing them out in full helped me flesh out the characters and their dynamics.

The novel is packed with pop culture references — even with footnotes. Why was that important to you?

Because that’s real life for queer people. Our lives are woven through with the music, TV, books and pop culture that shaped us. Often it was escapism when we were younger, and now it’s a shared language in our community.

The risk, of course, is alienating readers who don’t get a reference. That’s why I included footnotes — not to break the fourth wall for the sake of it, but to let people in on the joke. It still feels authentically queer, but inclusive.

And crucially, Gabriel himself is a know-it-all. He explains things, he lectures, he makes sardonic asides. So it felt in character for him to write them.

Readers have described Spiralling as “very British” and “a friendship love story.” Does that align with how you see it?

Totally. It’s been really gratifying seeing people pick up on things I didn’t expect — moments or characters I didn’t think would resonate as much as they have.

I’ve loved that readers recognise Gabriel’s flaws too — that he can be annoying, self-absorbed, a bit of a snob. That’s real. But I hope he’s still loveable despite it.

One of my favourite responses was people loving the scene where Mitchell calls Gabriel out for looking down on him. That was important to me: to show how easy it is to pit parts of our community against each other, and how wrongheaded that is.

Can you give us three songs that summarise Spiralling?

“Apple” by Charli XCX, “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan, and “It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay” by Whitney Houston. What are yours?

“Comeback” by Carly Rae Jepsen, “Get Outta My Way” by Kylie Minogue, and “You’ve Already Won” by Gretta Ray. Finally, what’s next for you? Will you return to Manchester or take us somewhere new?

Right now I’m writing something completely different — not set in Manchester. But I think humour, absurdity, and themes of regret will always run through my work.

I’d love to return to Spiralling eventually, maybe give Tasha or Evie more of the spotlight. But I want to live a bit more life first, collect more experiences, before coming back to Gabe’s world.

Spiralling is out now in the UK.