Cross-section measurements for a Z boson produced in association with high-transverse-momentum jets (p$_{T}$ ≥ 100 GeV) and decaying into a charged-lepton pair (e$^{+}$e$^{−}$, μ$^{+}$μ$^{−}$) are presented. The measurements are performed using proton–proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{−1}$ collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Measurements of angular correlations between the Z boson and the closest jet are performed in events with at least one jet with p$_{T}$ ≥ 500 GeV. Event topologies of particular interest are the collinear emission of a Z boson in dijet events and a boosted Z boson recoiling against a jet. Fiducial cross sections are compared with state-of-the-art theoretical predictions. The data are found to agree with next-to-next-to-leading-order predictions by NNLOjet and with the next-to-leading-order multi-leg generators MadGraph5_aMC@NLO and Sherpa.