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The School of Life

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8 min read

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4.5

· 902 Amazon ratings
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$17.46 on Amazon
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A Simpler Life by The School of Life Review: A Psychologically Grounded Guide to Simplicity

by The School of Life

A Simpler Life is a self-help guide from The School of Life — the global organisation founded under the direction of series editor Alain de Botton — that takes a psychological approach to minimalism, addressing not just the clutter in closets and calendars but the deeper roots of distraction and complexity in relationships, work, social life, and culture. Published in hardcover by The School of Life Press in May 2022, the book is designed for readers who crave a more pared-down, peaceful, and focused existence but recognise that surface-level decluttering is rarely enough to get them there. Multiple NetGalley reviewers responded warmly to its short, accessible chapters and its invitation to self-examination.

Interior spread featuring a minimalist dinner plate and sparse bedroom, illustrating philosophical approaches to simplicity.Busy urban street contrasted with serene shadow of tree on white surface, illustrating complexity versus inner calm.Orange promotional page listing key themes: minimalism, friendship, quiet days, Zen, psychoanalysis, and clarity.Tap to enlarge

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for

Readers who feel overwhelmed by modern life and suspect the problem runs deeper than clutter or a packed schedule — particularly those open to philosophical and psychological self-examination across relationships, work, and lifestyle.

Worth it if

Worth reading if you want a reflective, returnable guide that interrogates *why* complexity accumulates in your life, not just a checklist for stripping it back.

Skip if

Skip it if you need numbered frameworks, habit trackers, or evidence-based behavioural science — the essayistic, philosophical register will likely feel too abstract to be actionable on its own.

The Guardian's coverage of The School of Life's publishing arm notes that its titles — including A Simpler Life — "purport to blend philosophical wisdom with practical advice" and that the books are "Marmite," finding a clear market despite criticism of the School for "peddling watered-down pop philosophy." NetGalley reader responses, surfaced via Barnes & Noble and Better World Books, describe the book as calming and motivational, praising its ability to help readers "disentangle what you can change and what you have to accept" and calling it "a book you will return to again and again."

“The School of Life's books are Marmite; while many critique them for peddling watered-down pop philosophy, their teachings have clearly found a market.”

— theguardian.com
Sources: The Guardian, Barnes & Noble, Better World Books, Pages of Hackney
4.5from 902 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score

Preview the book

A Simpler Life: A guide to greater serenity, ease, and clarity by The School of Life front cover
Interior spread featuring a minimalist dinner plate and sparse bedroom, illustrating philosophical approaches to simplicity.
Busy urban street contrasted with serene shadow of tree on white surface, illustrating complexity versus inner calm.
Orange promotional page listing key themes: minimalism, friendship, quiet days, Zen, psychoanalysis, and clarity.
Interior diagram showing five life areas—relationships, social life, lifestyle, work, and culture—organized for simplicity and clarity.

Ask LuvemBooks

Was this helpful?

A Simpler Life is a psychologically grounded self-help guide from The School of Life that argues true simplicity cannot be achieved through decluttering alone — it requires understanding the internal confusions and misaligned aspirations that drive complexity in relationships, work, social life, and culture. Structured across five thematic sections and written in the organisation's signature calm, essayistic voice, the book is best suited to reflective readers willing to examine why complexity accumulated in the first place, rather than those seeking numbered frameworks or evidence-based habit systems. Readers who want prescriptive, step-by-step tools may find the philosophical register more thought-provoking than actionable.
Is it worth reading?
For readers frustrated that conventional minimalism advice hasn't delivered lasting peace, A Simpler Life offers a genuinely different angle: it treats simplicity as an outcome of psychological clarity rather than willpower or aesthetic preference. NetGalley reviewers described it as a book they would 'return to again and again,' praising its ability to help disentangle what can be changed from what must be accepted. The key caveat is that readers who want evidence-based frameworks, habit trackers, or numbered action steps may find the essayistic style more thought-provoking than practically directive.
Similar books
Readers drawn to A Simpler Life's psychological approach to inner clarity may also appreciate The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, which similarly challenges conventional assumptions about happiness through a philosophical dialogue format. The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama shares the reflective, non-prescriptive register and the focus on internal sources of contentment. For readers interested in the quieter, more intentional side of everyday life, Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself in the World by Isabel Gillies covers adjacent territory. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins round out the shelf with complementary perspectives on shedding unnecessary complexity from relationships and social obligations.
Who should read this?
A Simpler Life is aimed at adult readers who crave a more pared-down, peaceful existence but recognise that surface-level decluttering has not delivered lasting change. It is particularly well-suited to those who feel overwhelmed without being able to identify a single cause — the book's five-section structure addresses complexity in relationships, work, social life, lifestyle, and culture simultaneously. Readers who appreciate the blend of philosophy, psychology, and practical reflection characteristic of The School of Life's output will feel at home; those who prefer evidence-based, system-driven self-help are less likely to find what they're looking for here.
About The School of Life
The School of Life is a British multinational publishing and education company founded in 2008 by British author and public speaker Alain de Botton.
What are the main themes?
The central theme is that simplicity is a psychological achievement rather than a logistical one — the book argues that the clutter in modern lives originates in internal confusions and misaligned aspirations, not just overfull wardrobes or calendars. Across its five sections it explores how complexity accumulates in relationships, social life, work, lifestyle choices, and cultural consumption. A recurring counterintuitive thread is that reducing complexity sometimes requires more honesty upfront, not less — for instance, stating one's true preferences clearly in relationships rather than shapeshifting to please others.
How does this compare to other School of Life books?
Like other titles from The School of Life Press, A Simpler Life shares what the publisher describes as a coherent editorial voice — 'calm, reassuring, and sane' — and situates itself within the organisation's mission of helping readers lead more fulfilled lives through a blend of philosophy, psychology, and practical reflection. Compared to Big Ideas for Curious Minds: An Introduction to Philosophy, which LuvemBooks has also reviewed, A Simpler Life is more narrowly focused on a single life theme (simplicity) across concrete domains, making it more immediately applicable to readers with a specific problem to address rather than a general appetite for philosophical ideas.
Summarize this book

Summarize this book

A Simpler Life, published by The School of Life Press in May 2022, argues that genuine simplicity is a psychological achievement rather than a logistical one. Organised across five sections — Simpler Relationships, How Many Friends Do We Need, Simpler Lifestyle, Work and Simplicity, and Culture and Simplicity — the guide maps the roots of modern overcomplication and makes the counterintuitive case that achieving simplicity sometimes demands more honesty and upfront complexity, not less. One of its central examples: in relationships, the path out of a 'very complicated mess' is to 'dare to be a bit more complex from the start' by stating true preferences plainly. NetGalley reviewers ahead of publication praised the short chapter structure as readable and conducive to self-reflection.

Follow up

Who is The School of Life?
What are the five sections about?
What is the tone like?

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Age & Reading Level

Recommended age

Adult

Reading level

Adult

Browse all Adult books

Skip if you want numbered frameworks, habit trackers, or evidence-based behavioural systems rather than reflective, philosophical guidance.

Our Review

A self-help guide that argues true simplicity is an inside job, A Simpler Life reaches further than most decluttering titles by rooting its case in psychology rather than productivity hacks.

What the Book Actually Is and Argues

Interior spread featuring a minimalist dinner plate and sparse bedroom, illustrating philosophical approaches to simplicity.
Interior spread featuring a minimalist dinner plate and sparse bedroom, illustrating philosophical approaches to simplicity.
The book opens with a premise that sets its tone: "The modern world can be a complicated, frenzied and noisy place, filled with too many options, products, ideas and opinions." From that starting point, A Simpler Life builds its case that the simplicity many people crave cannot be achieved by emptying closets or trimming back social commitments alone. True simplicity, the text contends, requires understanding why lives grow complex and overwhelming in the first place — the psychological confusions and misaligned aspirations that drive the accumulation of noise. The guide is structured across five thematic sections: Simpler Relationships, How Many Friends Do We Need, Simpler Lifestyle, Work and Simplicity, and Culture and Simplicity. Together they map the territory of modern overcomplication and offer a path toward what the publisher's own description calls "less contorted hearts and minds."

A Counterintuitive Central Argument

One of the book's more intellectually bracing moves is its insistence that achieving simplicity can demand more honesty and complexity upfront, not less. A passage drawn from the text on relationships makes this plain: the path out of a "very complicated mess" is to "dare to be a bit more complex from the start" — stating one's true preferences plainly rather than shapeshifting to be an easy match. This runs against the grain of conventional minimalism self-help, which tends to focus on subtraction. Here, the School of Life's approach is to treat simplicity as an outcome of psychological clarity rather than a matter of willpower or aesthetic preference. The section on social life similarly challenges the assumption that a crowded calendar signals a well-lived life, asking readers to re-examine what friendship is actually for.
Interior diagram showing five life areas—relationships, social life, lifestyle, work, and culture—organized for simplicity and clarity.
Interior diagram showing five life areas—relationships, social life, lifestyle, work, and culture—organized for simplicity and clarity.

Its Place in the Genre and the School of Life Catalogue

The School of Life is a global organisation whose press, under the series editorship of Alain de Botton, produces titles designed to help readers lead more fulfilled lives. The publisher describes the books in this line as sharing "a coherent, curated message that speaks with one voice: calm, reassuring, and sane." A Simpler Life sits squarely within that mission. For readers already familiar with the School of Life's output — its blend of philosophy, psychology, and practical reflection — the book will feel tonally consistent. For newcomers, it functions as a fair entry point: its scope is specific enough (the theme of simplicity across five life domains) to feel purposeful rather than diffuse. It addresses the growing cultural appetite for minimalism not as a lifestyle trend but as a response to genuine psychological need.

Strengths Noted by Readers

NetGalley reviewers, responding ahead of publication, highlighted the book's short chapters as a practical asset — one described them as readable and understandable, with "ideas that you are able to put into practice." Another called it "packed full of information" and noted it prompts self-exploration and personal growth. A third commended it as a book readers "will return to again and again," citing its ability to help disentangle what can be changed from what must be accepted. Taken together, the reader response points to a guide that earns its place on a shelf not as a one-time read but as a returnable reference — which is consistent with the School of Life's design intent for its books.

Honest Limitations and Who It Is For

Because this is an editorial review based on published sources and the book's own documented contents — not hands-on application — no verdict on whether the book's prescriptions work in practice can be offered here. What the record does make clear is that the book's approach is reflective and essayistic rather than system-driven. Readers who want numbered frameworks, habit trackers, or evidence-based behavioural science may find the philosophical register less satisfying than the content itself. The School of Life's signature collective authorial voice — curated and consistent by editorial design — also means the text does not carry the intimacy of a single author's personal testimony. Those qualities are a deliberate trade-off: the result is a guide built for breadth and re-readability, aimed at any reader willing to examine not just what to cut from their life, but why so much accumulated there in the first place.

Sources & Further Reading

The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.

  1. Cited in this review
  2. 1
    A Simpler Life: a guide to greater serenity, ease, and clarity by The School of Life (9781912891689) | Boomerang Books

    boomerangbooks.com.au

  3. 2
    A Simpler Life: A guide to greater serenity, ease, and clarity - The School Of Life: 9781912891689 - AbeBooks

    abebooks.com

  4. 3
    A Simpler Life: A guide to greater serenity, ease, and clarity by The School of Life, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®

    barnesandnoble.com

  5. Further reading
  6. 4
    The School of Life — author profileHigh-authority source

    The School of Life, Wikipedia

  7. 5
    [PDF] A Simpler Life by The School of Life | 9781912891689, 9781915087010

    perlego.com

  8. 6
    A Simpler Life : A Guide to Greater Serenity, Ease, and Clarity book by The School of Life: 9781912891689

    betterworldbooks.com

  9. 7
    A Simpler Life: A guide to greater serenity, ease, and clarity by The School of Life | Pages of Hackney

    pagesofhackney.co.uk

  10. 8
    A Simpler Life by The School of Life | Boffins Books

    boffinsbooks.com.au

  11. 9
    A Simpler Life: A Guide to Greater Serenity, Ease, and Clarity - The School Of Life, The School of Life - Google Books

    books.google.com

Books like A Simpler Life

Curated picks for readers who enjoyed A Simpler Life, with our reasoning for each match.

If you liked A Simpler Life

In our catalogue

The Courage to Be Disliked

Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga

Shares the same core argument: complexity in life stems from internal misalignments, not external circumstances. Readers who want that idea explored through Adlerian psychology will find this equally rewarding.

Both books argue that the lives we overcomplicate are largely products of unexamined beliefs and the approval-seeking habits we've never questioned. Written as a Socratic dialogue, this one gives the philosophical scaffolding a dramatic, conversational form that makes the ideas feel earned rather than asserted. It suits readers who found A Simpler Life: A guide to greater serenity, ease, and clarity compelling but wanted the argument pushed further and defended more rigorously.

In our catalogue

The Art of Happiness

Dalai Lama

Both books locate the source of life's difficulty inside the mind rather than in circumstances, and both use a calm, reflective voice to make that case. Good for readers drawn to wisdom over technique.

In our catalogue

Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

Héctor García, Francesc Miralles

Both books argue that a well-lived life comes from alignment between values and daily choices, not from accumulation or achievement. Ikigai offers a cultural lens that broadens the conversation.

In our catalogue

101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think

Brianna Wiest

Same essayistic format, same focus on the unconscious habits of thought that make life harder than it needs to be. Better suited to readers who prefer short, punchy entries over a single sustained argument.

In our catalogue

Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself in the World

Isabel Gillies

Both books reframe simplicity as a deliberate inner orientation rather than a lifestyle aesthetic. Cozy is warmer and more personal, suited to readers who want lived examples alongside the reflection.

Not your thing?

In our catalogue

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Mark Manson

For readers who found the essayistic tone too abstract or measured: Manson covers the same territory — letting go of misaligned values — in a blunt, irreverent voice with more concrete examples and a faster pace.