Publishing company Bonnier Books UK announced on Tuesday that its imprint Footnote Press has pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to Jackson Alone, the prize-winning debut novel by Japanese author Jose Ando, in a deal brokered by Serena Arthur, commissioning editor, via Hannah Whitaker at Rights People on behalf of Soho Press.

The novel is translated by Kalau Almony and scheduled for simultaneous publication in the UK and US in January 2026.

Described as a "gut-punch of a book," Jackson Alone follows a queer, mixed-race massage therapist working at Athletius Japan, whose life is upended when a violent pornographic video surfaces featuring someone who looks like him. As Jackson uncovers a pattern of targeted harassment and finds others in similar circumstances, the group fights back by switching identities and exposing prejudice through subversive games.

Blending sharp social commentary with propulsive, multi-perspective storytelling, the novel explores race, queerness, fetishisation and workplace dynamics in modern Japan. Arthur called the novel "a short, sharp debut" reminiscent of The Vegetarian and My Sister the Serial Killer, while Nick Whitney of Soho Press praised its "virtuoso, impassioned, wickedly funny" tone.

Ando, considered a rising voice in Japanese literature, has positioned his work as a tool of resistance for marginalised communities, aiming to equip minorities "with weapons" to respond to everyday discrimination.