A few years ago, he was living on a council estate and packing boxes in a warehouse.
But in a twist worthy of his own novel, Stephen Kelman has beaten seasoned writers to be shortlisted for a leading literary prize.
His debut work, Pigeon English, which is based on the murder of Damilola Taylor in London in 2000, has even been praised as a “grim prophesy” of this summer’s riots.
The judges of the Man Booker prize also noted that it drew on the 35-year-old author’s upbringing surrounded by violence, drug-dealing and crime.
Mr Kelman said: “The case of Damilola Taylor became emblematic of the knife epidemic we’re experiencing today.
“His family were hard-working people and Damilola seemed like such a sweet and positive kid. I was struck by that loss of potential.” He said he was shocked to be on the Booker shortlist: “Considering where I have come from, it’s just surreal. I had no idea I could get this far.
“It’s like I have gatecrashed the party. It’s nice to see the new boys muscling in on the old guard.”
The novel tells the story of Harrison Opoku, an 11-year-old who decides to investigate the murder of another boy who was knifed to death.
While Mr Kelman was working on the book - at his parents’ council house on Luton’s Marsh Farm estate - a teenager was beaten to death in a nearby alley.
The work was rejected by several literary agents before being picked up and championed by publisher Bloomsbury. Mr Kelman took up writing in 2005 after working as a warehouse packer, industrial cleaner and local government administrator.
Matthew d’Ancona, a political columnist who helped judge the shortlist, said the novel mirrored the social unrest seen this summer.
He said: “It’s a novel that fizzes with doubts and anxieties about the way we live now. The fact that it was written before the riots this summer is neither here nor there. But it does read like a grim prophesy.”
Controversially, Alan Hollinghurst, who is widely seen as one of the best writers of his generation, missed out with his critically-acclaimed novel, The Stranger’s Child.
Dame Stella Rimington, former MI5 director and chairman of the judging panel, said: “We were not looking at people’s reputations, we were looking at the books.
“We all thought we wanted to produce books that people all over the country would read and enjoy.
“We were looking for enjoyable books and this is what we have come up with.”
The shortlist, announced yesterday at the Man Group headquarters in central London, includes The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.
The book, which explores the life of a man who has divorced, is his 11th novel and is tipped by Ladbrokes to win at odds of 13/8.
The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced on October 18. - Daily Mail