The Trading Game

A Confession

Brought to you by Penguin.

*NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*

An outrageous, white-knuckle journey to the dark heart of an intoxicating world - from someone who survived the trading game and then blew it all wide open

'If you were gonna rob a bank, and you saw the vault door there, left open, what would you do? Would you wait around?

Ever since he was a kid, kicking broken footballs on the streets of East London in the shadow of Canary Wharf's skyscrapers, Gary wanted something better. Something a whole lot bigger.

Then he won a competition run by a bank: 'The Trading Game'. The prize: a golden ticket to a new life, as the youngest trader in the whole city. A place where you could make more money than you'd ever imagined. Where your colleagues are dysfunctional maths geniuses, overfed public schoolboys and borderline psychopaths, yet they start to feel like family. Where soon you're the bank's most profitable trader, dealing in nearly a trillion dollars. A day. Where you dream of numbers in your sleep - and then stop sleeping at all.

But what happens when winning starts to feel like losing? When the easiest way to make money is to bet on millions becoming poorer and poorer - and, as the economy starts slipping off a precipice, your own sanity starts slipping with it? You want to stop, but you can't. Because nobody ever leaves.

Would you stick, or quit? Even if it meant risking everything?

'An unforgettable story of greed, financial madness and moral decay' Rory Stewart

'Hilarious, shocking and deeply sad — often in the same sentence' Sunday Times

'The Wolf of Wall Street with a moral compass' Irvine Welsh
©2024 Gary Stevenson (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

An incredibly important and timely book, very much of its era. The Wolf of Wall Street with a moral compass, it lays bare the spiritual vacuity of the systems and processes that both dominate and reduce our humanity. (Irvine Welsh)

Compelling, intensely readable, unsettling. An unforgettable story of greed, financial madness and moral decay. (Rory Stewart)

Astonishing, enraging, extremely funny and exquisitely sad - a magnificent exposé of the 'masters of the universe' whose greed imperils us all. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. (The Secret Barrister)

The Trading Game is the best finance memoir I’ve ever read. Gary Stevenson's tale of plundering Wall Street like some kind of cockney pirate is by turn hilarious and harrowing. A thrilling read that raises profound questions about who runs the global financial system. (Zeke Faux, author of Number Go Up)

A well written and often darkly funny book that makes a convincing case that high finance is as toxic, reckless and deeply cynical as ever.

The Trading Game is Stevenson’s account — his confession — of how he achieved this dream, becoming Citibank’s most profitable trader, and how it made him angry, dejected and ill. There are parallels with Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis, an autobiographical account of a young man’s adventures in the financial markets… This dark but profitable vision is lightened by moments of comic self-importance.

Stevenson is a sharp observer, with a gift for colourful if merciless description… His breakdown started with trading mania and ended with his exile to the Tokyo office, pleading to be allowed to leave. His bonuses had brought him torment, not freedom.

For a self-proclaimed mathematics nerd, Stevenson is a fine wordsmith. His greatest strength is his ability to unravel complex concepts… Stevenson candidly shares his traumas and experiences… finance, for all its allure and excess, is a world where excess comes at a cost, a cost not measured in dollars but in the essence of who we become.

As a critique of the monstrous modern evolutions of finance, Gary Stevenson’s account of the frenzy and follies of trading “trillions a day” on behalf of the US giant Citibank is powerful… Rude and funny… demotic fast-paced prose... he tells a vivid story and invites us to make our own judgement.

Gary Stevenson’s rags-to-riches memoir exposes a system where the rich can’t lose and the economy is choked by inequality.… Stevenson brings alive the unease of trying to survive in the purgatorial space between being an employee and an outsider…

Amazing look behind the curtain

what a nice change to hear a frank, no holds barred account of the inside of these institutions that hold so much power. Gary is a great writer and narrator. interesting to hear the differences between his accent on the audiobook and his YouTube channel or podcast appearances.

highly recommended

Authentic, funny, critical

Gary Stevenson reads his own story and brings it very much to life through his accent and anecdotes. At the same time an authentic and unapologetic description of trading and the I-bank culture driven by competitiveness and the pleasure of maling money for its own sake and a critical reflection of it. A modern version of Michael Lewis liar’s poker.

Great story of life!

Despite what you may think of economies and economists, this book is just an interesting listen to a life story. Lots of lessons to learn and you dont have to be a trader held ransom by a 2 million pound bonus to learn from it.

Gripping story, very nice production.

It’s usually a bad sign when someone makes their origins their entire personality. It isn’t the case with Gary Stevenson. His heartfelt, sometimes over-the-top narrative is equally gripping and informative.


Nit pick. Like the Clockwork Orange, this one would have been better without the last chapter.

fascinating read

a real page turner; very well told account of life behind the scenes at an investment bank