Departure(s)

A moving, engaging book… his [Barnes’s] humorous narrative explores the effect of time on love… a rather lovely swansong * Independent *[An] elegant, thoughtful final book, which considers old age, fate and happiness. It’s an arch blend of memoir and make-believe — and rather touching * The Times, Books to Look Out For 2026 *His [Barnes’s] “last book”… proves one of his best * Daily Telegraph, Books to Look Out For 2026 *Metafictional, moving, unmistakably Barnes * Observer, Books to Look Out For 2026 *A richly layered autofiction… Artfully constructed to seem casually conversational, it braids erudite essayism and fiction, and every line is turned inside out with qualifications * Observer *At a little over 150 pages, Departure(s) is brief but it is not slight and, each time I read it, I thought about it for days afterwards… If this is his [Barnes’s] last book, he has given his career a triumphant ending * Financial Times *Disparate elements are bound together by the skilful management of theme and tone… [Departure(s)] is at once confidently authoritative and tentatively questioning. Barnes assumes a personal relation with his readers, built on the kind of intimacy that cancer’s company doesn’t provide * Times Literary Supplement *Booker Prize winner Julian Barnes approaches his 80th birthday this month secure in his position as one of our finest writers. And Departure(s) can only polish his reputation – Matt Nixson * Daily Express and Mirror *Departure(s), [is] a masterpiece of narrative trickery * Spectator *Barnes at his most irresistible… [Departure(s) is] a perfect send-off * The Times *A curious, engaging mix of fiction and non-fiction… Playful and self-aware, if this really is his last book…it’s a lovely way to sign off * UK Press Syndication *

Julian Barnes is the author of fourteen novels, including The Sense of an Ending, which won the 2011 Booker Prize, and Sunday Times bestsellers The Noise of Time and The Only Story. He has also written three books of short stories, four collections of essays and five works of non-fiction, including Nothing to Be Frightened Of and the Sunday Times number one bestseller Levels of Life. He was awarded the David Cohen Prize for lifetime contribution to literature in 2011, and the Legion d’honneur in 2017.