TO BE SOMEONE

Former rock star and fab London DJ Helena Nicholls ponders her final playlist while recuperating from a horrendous party accident. Seeing herself smeared over the tabloids as a doped-up floozy, booted from her popular morning slot to the graveyard shift by her "weaselly, gummy" boss, Helena dreams up a plan to play a list of the most meaningful songs in her life, after which she will kill herself and go off the air for good. This plodding first novel follows Helena home from the hospital and across jagged leaps of memory, from her first and dearest friend, Samantha (whose untimely death from leukemia still gnaws at her), over to the U.S. for the formation and quick rise to fame of her band, Blue Idea, then back to the U.K. for the radio days. Each chapter is titled after one of the songs Helena associates with memorable events in her life: the artists include Blondie, Elvis Costello, Sinead O'Connor, the Cure and the Jam, with the latter's song providing the book's title. Voss manages to traverse both the music and radio industries without saying much about either, devoting reams to Helena's inner turmoil and the terrible experience of watching a close friend deteriorate before her eyes. Except for Helena herself, the characters do not exist beyond their lines, and the meandering plot (to off oneself or not, and why) is further bogged down by the tiresome flashbacks. Considering Helena's environment amid gaudy rockers and their entourages, the prose is antiseptic and low-impact. (Oct. 2)

Forecast:Is Brit pop fiction wearing out its welcome stateside? Perhaps—although Voss may find an audience among 30-somethings nostalgic for the '80s.