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Editorial Review:
After weasel-eyed tax inspectors question her work-related claims, Katya Livingston is forced to keep a financial diary. As well as documenting the cruel and parsimonious ways of her ad agency boss, Katya waxes lyrical about putting up with loser friends, mortal enemies, and thoroughly bad restaurants. She also throws in a completely candid account of her love life, just in case some of it is tax deductible. What begins as a private account of expenses rapidly becomes, through Katya's chronic delusions of grandeur, a matter of public record: first as a tawdry gossip column, then as a salacious book, and finally as a Hollywood B-movie.Bitingly written with wit and style reminiscent of Candace Bushnell, Adèle Lang's novel is a cutting, bitchy, hilarious take on the young-single-British-woman genre.
Description of Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber: The Katya Livingston Chronicles (Unabridged):
It's really not a bad idea. Adele Lang joins the throng of post-Bridget Jones novelists with Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber, a fictional diary by Katya Livingstone, an advertising copywriter-turned-journalist who is, in short, a nasty piece of work. Katya has never met a friend she didn't stab in the back, a boss she didn't take advantage of, or a man whose net worth she didn't appraise in five seconds flat. Most of Ms. Jones's offspring are dear, dewy, put-upon creatures. Sure, they crack wise, but mostly they seem to mope around hoping for Mr. Right to happen upon them. The idea of a vile anti-heroine out to screw the world before it screws her has a certain appeal. Unfortunately, Lang's reach has exceeded her grasp, and the result is far from heavenly. The book veers wildly in tone. We never know quite how we're supposed to feel about Katya: Should we despise her? Admire her for her chutzpah? Or just shut the book in frustration? Meanwhile, sloppy grammar and unfunny jokes topple this tenuous house of cards. --Claire Dederer
Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber: The Katya Livingston Chronicles (Unabridged) Reviews:
I love this book! 
2007-08-29 - "Confessions" is one of my absolute favorite books and I have read it multiple times. I get a tickle out of the people who hated the book. The complaints all seem to stem from the fact that there was not a single deep moment, or any kind of introspection, no one grew as a person and the vile main character recieved no real comeuppance.
That is the point! From the first chapter its clear we are dealing with someone who wouldn't know she'd recieved her comeuppance even if you explained it to her. She -in point of fact- was humilated by the end of the book, but she was far too self-involved and egotistical to see it as such. The books humor comes from the idea that Katya is completely devoid of introspection and empathy. This frees her from any guilt or shame she should have over her behavior. Katya is free to behave as badly and as meanly as she wants, which is great fun for this reader.
I love dark comedies where the good guys don't always win and the bad guys REVEL in their badness. If you like those kinds of stories, you will LOVE this book. If you are looking for redemption in a character the title refers to as "sociopathic", this book is not for you.
If only there was a ZERO star! 
2007-01-14 - This may be one of the worst books I have read in years. I don't expect much from chick-lit -- it's a good way to pass an afternoon with no drain on the brain. This book was just insultingly stupid. Why the author (let alone the publisher) thought this drivel was worth killing trees is beyond me. If you want to read the boring diary of a self-centered egotistical whiner, this may be the book for you, everyone else take a pass!
The Anti-Bridget Jones 
2006-11-07 - This is one of my favorite books. It's hysterical. Katya Livingston is both the protagonist and the antagonist at once. If you like British humor you will especially enjoy it.
Some crass fun, but a seriously flawed humorous novel 
2006-02-11 - If you want to thrill vicariously to the wicked thoughts of a caricature shallow English career woman, this book has some good chuckles. Men are humiliated, women rivals are defeated, friends and family are exploited and cast aside, cute little animals are thoughtlessly murdered, and all business contacts are left to wallow in failure.
The trouble is the thing has no plot, none of the characters are remotely sympathetic or believable, and it's just too darned long. As a result, it's funny enough for the first few chapters, but there's a point where you realize it's just going to meander and repeat similar gags forever. Even if you like this sort of crass humor, you look to see how much longer you have to go and wonder if you should bother to finish it. Would have been great as a short story or novelette.
Funny, Fluffy, Mean-Spirited, Goofy 
2005-09-26 - This is cheesy light reading and it doesn't try to pretend it's anything else. In my view that makes it even more likable. This is a comedic record of the life of a deeply flawed, fantasy-prone, sociopathic woman in the business world whose ambition and willingness to do anything, sell out any friend, rival or co-worker, flatter any boss or hatch any plot to get ahead is the darkly funny antidote to the increasingly silly misadventures of a certain diarist named Jones. Should I be ashamed to admit I read this because Kelly Ripa said it was her favorite book ever? Ha, I don't care, cause this little novel made me laugh!
