Music is everything to college radio DJ Viv Pierce. When her fiancé excitedly reveals his vision for their future – a future in which they get married right after college and start a family – she panics because housewives don't have time for travel, punk rock shows, or late-night record-listening parties. She takes solace with her friends at the college's dingy little radio station and tries to figure out what she's going to do. When an intense connection with a handsome young Joy Division fan visiting from England leads to a one-night stand, she has to decide what kind of future she really wants.

Set between 1979-80, Radio Waves is a novel of longing and rebellion, infused with the post-punk music of the late 70s that embodied both.