The University of Life.

Every graduate has mad tales of the crazy antics they got up to during the huge piss-up, otherwise known as the first year of university. Unfortunately, they usually bore the crap out of everyone. Thank goodness Kevin Sampson can write, then.

Freshers follows the diminutive Kit Hannah to Sheffield University where he falls in love with a girl a foot taller than him, has a run-in with a psychotic vegetarian and gets coke-induced diarrhoea. Standard student fare, and Kit is as screwed up/arrogant/nervous as everyone else that he lives and drinks with.

But Sampson has a gift for interior monologue that’s lively, funny and introspective by turns, making Kit a likeable companion throughout the uni madness, and one who keeps the page turning. Not as raw as Sampson’s other novels, but still an insightful story about growing up. (6/10) Laura Bushell 12 September 03

Freshers by Kevin Sampson is out now, published by Jonathan Cape.

useful link: random house: freshers