Loneliness & Company

A timely, beautifully observed debut novel set in near future New York about a young woman who finds herself tangled in a secret Government project combating loneliness.

Lee knows she’s the best. A professor favorite and fellowship winner, there’s no doubt she’ll land one of the coveted jobs at a Big Five corporation. So when, upon graduating, Lee is instead assigned to an unknown company in the dead city of New York, her life goals are completely upended.

In this new role, Lee’s task is to gather enough research to train an AI how to be a friend. She begins online and by studying the social circle of her clueless, outgoing roommate Veronika. But when the company reveals it’s part of a classified government mission to solve loneliness-an emotion erased from society’s lexicon decades ago-Lee’s determination to prove herself kicks into overdrive, and she begins chasing bolder and more dangerous experiences to provide data for the AI.

How far will Lee go to teach the algorithm? As the mysterious affliction spreads, Lee must decide what she’s willing to give up for success and, along the way, learn what it means to be a true friend.

Loneliness & Company is an enchanting, gorgeously written novel about finding meaning and connection in a world beset by isolation.

Charlee Dyroff has an MFA from Columbia University, and her work has appeared in Slate, Gulf Coast, Lapham’s Quarterly, Guernica, Ploughshares, Eater, and The Best American Food Writing of 2019. She lives in New York.