The Life Experiment by Jess Kitching

A poignant, life-affirming love story about two people whose lives are turned upside down when they enter an experiment that predicts when they will die. For fans of Beth O’Leary, David Nicholls and Matt Haig.

When OPM Discoveries puts out an ad seeking participants for The Life Experiment, a study that claims it can predict when people will die, two strangers searching for meaning apply.

Layla, a corporate lawyer, has foregone all relationships for her career, stuck in an endless cycle of late nights, impossible deadlines and the London rat race. Growing up on the poverty line, Layla has fought tirelessly to better her circumstances. But with work grinding her down, she wonders if happiness can be found behind a desk after all.

Angus, son of the esteemed Fairview-Whitley family, is struggling with his family’s expectations after the death of his brother and a failed investment. Unsure of what to do with his life, Angus is frozen in a cycle of long hours and lazy days, watching time pass him by.

Unaware that they are participating in the same experiment, Layla and Angus meet by chance in a café the same day they get their shocking results. Their attraction is instant, but can they open their hearts to more when their time might be brief?

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The Life Experiment is one of the novels that I picked up at this year’s Ilkley Literature Festival.  The event featured two authors – Jess Kitching and Hanna Thomas Uose – talking about their speculative fiction novels The Life Experiment and Who Wants to Live Forever? respectively.  I couldn’t resist either of them, although that’s par for the course for me – if I’m attending an event, there’s at least a 90% chance that I’ll come away with the book(s)!

Kitching’s latest novel looks at two individuals who volunteer for the titular life experiment.  Run by OPM Discoveries, the life experiment offers you the opportunity to find out when you will die.  The company can’t predict any accidents that might occur, but focusses on the expected date of biological death, based upon various data inputs including fitness, lifestyle, and other contributing factors.  This is such a thought-provoking idea, and I had to stop reading at points to consider the questions that came to mind.  If you could find out, would you?  What would it change?  Is it definitive, or could healthier lifestyle choices delay the inevitable?  These are amongst the questions that the two protagonists are faced with as they volunteer to take part, each with their own reasons for doing so.

Layla is a lawyer, originally from Hull but now based in London and while she loves the work, she finds herself stuck in a rut.  She got her job through a lot of hard graft, but she resents the hours she has to put in and the stress that it causes her.  She can’t see her family as much as she’d like, and can only dream of having the time for a social life or a romantic entanglement.  She is also resentful of being passed over for promotion in favour of those who take advantage of their familial connections.  The second protagonist is Angus, a very different character.  From an extremely wealthy family, he doesn’t need to work and has no direction or drive to do anything.  He is, in effect, bored, his life predominantly one long drinking session with his equally wealthy friends. 

Plot wise, The Life Experiment is difficult to review as it would be very easy to reveal too much.  Layla and Angus decide to take part in the experiment, driven by the need to find some meaning in their lives.  They find out their biological death dates, and as you’d expect, this is hugely impactful for them both.  I loved seeing how this changed their lives, as both reconnect with their families and begin to find meaning, focussing on what’s actually important.  They do, of course, meet, although they don’t know that they’re involved in the same experiment which they’re forbidden from discussing.  Romance is never the main pull of a novel for me, but I really enjoyed watching their spark of instant attraction develop into a friendship with the potential for something more, despite some complications on both sides as they deal with the fallout of their results. 

The Life Experiment is an incredibly poignant novel that encourages us all to live our lives to the full.  I can only echo the description above – this is exactly the kind of life-affirming novel that will appeal to fans of Matt Haig and David Nicholls (I can’t comment on Beth O’Leary, having not read anything of hers).  I absolutely adored it – it’s a fascinating idea that is brilliantly executed.  Highly recommended.