“A gem of a novel.” — Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour

Longlisted for the 2024 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour

Stephen Millburn moved halfway across the country, from Ottawa to Victoria, to fulfill his dream of being an early-morning radio host, but he’s barely holding it together. Trying to balance parental duties (he and his wife have a newborn son) with his work schedule leaves Stephen running on coffee fumes and falling asleep at the most inconvenient times, including mid-broadcast.

Stephen treads a narrow path at CIFU. When he arrived, the station ranked dead last in ratings. Months into his new hosting position, his show and the station are growing in popularity. He’s something of a golden boy — but he’s a golden boy with a passion for good journalism, which leads him to pursue a story about an encampment of unhoused people on the lawns of the city’s court house.

Bleeding heart liberalism is not the stuff that Mr. George Caulfeild, station owner, believes his new audience wants to hear at eight a.m. and Stephen finds himself in a seriously conflicted position. He needs this job to support his growing family and pay down his crippling mortgage, but he knows this exposé is ethically and politically important — and it’s a journalist’s dream story. Will he be able to pull it all together or is he heading for a downfall?

Gregor Craigie is a friendly public radio journalist, currently hosting CBC Radio One’s On the Island in Victoria, BC. He is generally well-liked and known for being fair, but will occasionally push people on political and social issues – while maintaining his manners, of course. Inspired by his interest in earthquakes, Craigie’s non-fiction book On Borrowed Time was a finalist for the inaugural Writers’ Trust Balsillie Prize for Public Policy. In an effort to stay healthy and as a tiny offering in the fight against climate change, Craigie bikes to work daily.

Gregor Craigie's profile page

• Long-listed, Leacock Medal for Humour

“An amiable picaresque, moving smoothly from one comic setpiece to the next.”

The Vancouver Sun

“Radio Jet Lag is a little polished gem of a novel exploring how a sleep-deprived morning show host balances the needs of his young, growing family life with the demands of his intense private radio gig, all while honouring his own principles. By turns funny and moving, fascinating yet familiar, Gregor Craigie has written a novel for our frenetic times.”

Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour

“I thoroughly enjoyed my morning show experience with this novel.”

I've Read This

“We don’t often get books about the difficulties of going back to work as a father so I really appreciated this perspective and Stephen’s a funny character to follow. … It’s a great summertime read.”

The Homestretch with Chris dela Torre, Jenny Howe

“With a sympathetic protagonist, relevant themes, and a compelling plot underpinning its light tone, Radio Jet Lag is an auspicious fictional outing.”

The British Columbia Review

“… as engrossing as it is entertaining.”

The Toronto Star