Last Orders

'We head on past the gas works under the railway bridge. The sun comes out from behind the tower blocks, bright in our faces, and Vince pulls out a pair of chunky sun-glasses from under the dashboard. Lenny starts singing, slyly, through his teeth, "Blue bayooo . . ." And we all feel it, what with the sunshine and the beer inside us and the journey ahead: like it's something Jack has done for us, so as to make us feel special, so as to give us a treat. like we're off on a jaunt, a spree, and the world looks good, it looks like it's there just for us.'

Four men once close to Jack Dodds, a London butcher, meet to carry out his peculiar last wish: to have his ashes scattered into the sea. For reasons best known to herself, Jack's widow, Amy, declines to join them.

On the surface the tale of a simple if increasingly bizarre day's outing, Last Orders is Graham Swift's most richly surprising novel to date and his most poignant exploration of the complexity and courage of ordinary lives. A journey on many levels, as universal as it is vividly local, it is moving, funny and humane.