In 2018, when Fiona Wright began writing Kill Your Boomers, the housing crisis was in full swing. Cruelly exacerbated by the pandemic, it is now central to mainstream political debate in Australia. The novel began with a dark joke among Wright’s friends that “there’s nothing any of us can do until our parents drop off the perch”.

Review: Kill Your Boomers – Fiona Wright (Ultimo)

Kill Your Boomers is set in Sydney, where real estate prices are the highest in the country and competition is at fever pitch. As of December 2025, the entry price for a property there was $1,150,000, well out of the reach of most buyers without access to inherited wealth. Due to the scarcity of available properties, electricity substations, tennis courts and other tiny strips of land not normally used for houses have been selling for top prices.

The novel’s flippant title signals its sharp flavour. Its accompanying promotional material likens it to Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation and The Menu, a 2022 black comedy horror movie featuring a homicidal chef.

In some ways, its quasi-realist mode is a departure for Wright, who has previously received acclaim for her essay collections, Small Acts of Disappearance and When the World Was Whole, and two poetry collections, Domestic Interior and Knuckled. Her work has previously dealt with disordered eating and compulsive behaviour, themes that reappear in Kill Your Boomers.

Improve your self-esteem

Thirty-something Kiera lives with two housemates in decaying accommodation that is desperately in need of repairs. She works part-time as a nanny for Johanna, a glamorous “natural” supplements executive, minding twin babies and doing domestic chores like making bone broth from scratch.

She shops for “pure” groceries, such as sauerkraut juice and nutritional yeast, and pockets a few items to feed herself in between. Johanna gives her free supplements with exotic names as tokens for being late home from work almost every day.

Aside from nannying, Kiera ekes out a living as a freelance writer, producing “articlectorials” with headlines like “Top Ten Tips for First Home Buyers (brought to you by Mortgage Choice)”, “Three Simple Ways to Improve Your Self-Esteem (brought to you by Ella Bache)” and “Are You Burnt-Out? Six Signs That You........

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