I am thrilled, proud and a little bit tearful to be welcoming my friend Matt Hill to my blog. His debut, ‘The Folded Man’ is published TODAY.

‘The Folded Man’ was named runner-up in the fiercely competitive 2012 Dundee International Book Prize by a judging panel including Stephen Fry and Philip Pullman. Of the novel, Stephen Fry said, ‘THE FOLDED MAN captures the smell and essence of Britain through its main character, his desires, addictions and strange courage. Written with direct vividness that keeps one inside its totally realised world.’

And I met Matt many years ago because of writing, written words helped us become friends. His skill comes from his mind-blowing imagination and his ability to dance across genres. He is talented, his writing is original and, in simple terms, ‘The Folded Man’ is like nothing I’ve read before.

‘The Folded Man’ is set in Manchester, in 2018, in a rotten city that has been devastated by war. The promise of a prosperous North is gone, nationalism runs riot. The first industrial city is dying – its people have been left to fend for themselves.

And living amongst the neglect and chaos is Brian Meredith - a socially awkward being, an addict, a wheelchair-bound man who hates his very existence. And, it possibly doesn’t help that Brian is a mermaid – or at least he thinks he is.

This is a remarkable debut, Brian Meredith is an unforgettable character. He is a modern day, working class, J. Alfred Prufrock, on drugs. And this sharp satire has all the makings of a modern classic. ‘The Folded Man’ is one to own, to read, and then to reread in 2018 when we’ll all discover that Matt Hill is possibly a wizard.

And to celebrate the launch of ‘The Folded Man’, and to make sure we all visit before 2018, Matt Hill has listed the top eight things that he loves most about Manchester:

I left Manchester last summer but still go there in my fiction – mainly through Street View and those funny little memory-maps you layer up over time. Here are eight things I love most.

1. Fab Cafe

The only place in the world that’ll serve you Super Noodles on toast with your pint. It’s basically a shrine to Gerry Anderson – everywhere you look there’s a Thunderbirds model dangling from the ceiling. Then there’s the Dalek, STAR WARS arcade cabinets, a DJ booth modelled on the Enterprise bridge. And endless curio from countless other SF/fantasy galaxies. Sticky floors, crap draught beers, totally brilliant.

2. Beetham Tower

The Beetham hasn’t been standing all that long, but it’s hard to imagine Manchester’s landscape without it. It’s obnoxious, grey, slabby, totemic; all roads seem to lead to it. And it has its own great stories: cannabis farms high up in swanky flats; exhibitionists doing terrible things against floor-to-ceiling windows; the full-grown tree up in the penthouse; the eerie howl it makes in high winds. I’m slightly obsessed with it (which is possibly why I’ve blown it up in the book).

3. Pulling into Manchester Piccadilly by train

Piccadilly is familiar however long you’ve been away. You know you’re close – home – when you see the Etihad stadium, the scrubland near Ashburys. It’s a good feeling, however silly that sounds. (There used to be another marker out there, too – an ace sculpture called B of the Bang – but that was made from metal spikes that started falling off so they pulled it down.)

4. Being close to the countryside

I grew up east of Manchester, where the counties start to rub against each other. You’ve got reservoirs, blank hills, awesome roads, crisp air – all about 20 minutes’ drive away.

5. Castlefield

Beyond the arches at the far end of Deansgate, the canal opens up into a basin, locks and all. Loads of inoffensive nicey-nice pubs and bars as you’d expect, but there’s plenty of grass and open space for disposable barbecues and bumming about next to the water. It looks ace in winter, too, when the water freezes and petrifies barges for days at a time. I like a nice barge.

6. The John Rylands Library

Deansgate has its own charm: Victorian brick, preserved warehouse fascias, a deceptive length (I’m still unsure about how long it takes to walk end to end). But if Beetham Tower is its showpiece, the modern-city centrepiece, the John Rylands Library is the ornate locket it keeps to its chest. It’s a beautiful building.

7. The Knott Bar

It’s a strange pub this — a sort of cross between a shed and a greenhouse that some lunatic fastened to the underside of a viaduct. Still, loads of ales and the best bangers and mash in the world make this my favourite pub in the world as well.

8. Northern chatterboxes

A lot of people don’t like being called ‘love’. I don’t mind it, though. Actually, Manchester types, for the most part, take their time to say hello and ask how you are. Usually with one word: ‘alright?’ – but always earnestly. It makes buying a pint or two of milk a nicer experience – I’d hate for that to change.

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About Matt Hill: Matt Hill was born in 1984 and grew up in Tameside, Greater Manchester. After completing a journalism degree at Cardiff University, he trained as a copywriter. Matt currently lives and works in London. You ll find him on Twitter @matthewhill.