The physicist‑turned-YA novelist talks about choosing to set The Upper World in south London, and how it was snapped up by Daniel Kaluuya for Netflix
- Read an extract from The Upper World below
Had it not been for his secondary school caretaker, physicist-turned-novelist Femi Fadugba might never have gone on to study material sciences and quantum computing at Oxford University. “I don’t usually tell people this story because it sounds like something out of a movie,” he says, laughing, on a video call from Peckham, south London. “He gave me a Quantum Physics for Dummies book when I was 11. It was only a couple of years ago that I found his phone number and called him up. He told me that he had a PhD and was really into physics, but just wasn’t able to pursue it.”
Similarly, had it not been for his career in quantum physics, Fadugba might never have written his debut sci-fi novel, The Upper World– a book about time travel set in Peckham and deeply informed by the study of atoms, matter, energy and relativity. “I decided I wanted to write this book because I’d have conversations with people who would ask me to explain quantum physics. They’d always be super fascinated and wanted me to recommend a book, but I couldn’t find one that I could put my hand on my heart and say: ‘You’ll dig this.’”
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