Astroturf cover art

Astroturf

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Astroturf

By: Matthew Sperling
Narrated by: Obe Croft
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £9.99

Buy Now for £9.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Good things can happen when you do bad things

At thirty, Ned is in a rut. His girlfriend has dumped him, his job is boring and he lives in a dismal bedsit. While others around him climb the property ladder and get ahead, he seems destined to remain one of life's plodders.

Encouraged by a friend to try using steroids to bulk up his frame, Ned is pleased to discover a new vitality within himself. Physical changes are only the beginning: his mental state is clearer, he feels more confident and, most thrillingly of all, friends and lovers alike seem compelled by this new improved Ned.

Using his knowledge of the murky yet surprising online world of steroids, Ned begins to build a business and discovers that his talents can take him further than he ever thought possible. But when is new life is threatened, he finds himself doing things he never would have dared to do before.

And it all seems to be going fine . . .

©2018 Matthew Sperling (P)2018 Quercus Editions Limited
Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Witty

Listeners also enjoyed...

Resolution Way cover art
Confidence cover art
Keep Walking, Rhona Beech cover art
Me, Myself and Eye cover art
Dating Daisy cover art
Return on Investment cover art
Mad About the Boy cover art
Forward Slash cover art
Soho Dead cover art
Re-Start cover art
One in a Million cover art
The Lonely Fajita cover art
Trying cover art
The Moment of Truth cover art
Fat Chance cover art
Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure cover art

Critic reviews

'I loved Matthew Sperling's sly, subversive novel, a wickedly funny tale of how to come out on top in a fake news world.' Olivia Laing

'Outrageous, sexy and funny. Sperling writes with the caustic economy of Waugh or Spark, but his characters have more heart, including the sock-puppets.' Luke Kennard, author of The Transition

'A tale about steroids which seems to be on steroids itself: sleek, muscular and just slightly too real.' Kate Clancy, author of Meeting the English

All stars
Most relevant
Fast-paced, engrossing and cleverly-edited. Takes a terrifying look at the power of multiple online identities and performance-enhancing drugs.

Trainspotting meets...Fight Club?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.