Julian Barnes

Julian Barnes’ playful new book is also his ‘official departure’

Departure(s) explores several of Barnes' lifelong obsessions — mortality, memory, and time. It's slim but weighty, digressive yet incisive. Barnes, who just turned 80, says it will be his last.

Julian Barnes says he’s enjoying himself, but that ‘Departure(s)’ is his last book

Part memoir and part fiction, Barnes' hybrid novel publishes the day after his 80th birthday. He's been living with a rare form of blood cancer for six years.