[2] Brown spent a decade working in financial services, after studying mathematics at the University of Cambridge.

[3] Brown developed Assembly after receiving a 2019 London Writers Award in the literary fiction category.

[2] It was published in hardcover format in the UK through Hamish Hamilton on 3 June 2021; Penguin also released an ebook and audiobook dictated by Pippa Bennett-Warner.

[11] Its economy of language is frequently mentioned as one of its strengths, with Brown's tight prose often being described as "precise" and "crisp.

"[12][13][14][15][16][17] Literary Hub's Emily Temple compiled a comprehensive assessment of critic attitudes towards literature from 2021 calling it an "Ultimate Best Books of 2021 List"; she determined that altogether four mainstream magazines and outlets explicitly named the novel as a critical or important work on their own platforms' end-of-the-year lists.