In Downhill, we follow the almost adult Nils through the first few years of the 1960s in his hometown of Oslo. Nils and his best friend, Zakk, have a passion for literature, politics and girls. Through their shared interest in films, they become acquainted with Nora and Ester. Nils recognises his own darkness in Nora, but there’s something inscrutable about her too, something that has him head over heels in love, and fills him with an urge to protect her. At the same time, the superpowers of the world are playing out their nuclear brinkmanship, and the danger of annihilation feels imminent.

The young people read, have discussions and participate in meetings at the Socialist Student Union, but does any of it really help when the world seems to have become unhinged?

Downhill is a novel about friendship, political awakening and young love, about anxiety and feeling like an outsider, and about finding your own voice in a world that has succumbed to the political madness of the great political powers of the time.