Last Orders

Last Orders is a 1996 novel by the British author Graham Swift. An homage to William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, the novel follows four British veterans of the Second World War as they travel from their local pub in South London to the seaside town of Margate in order to scatter the ashes of their friend Jack Dodds. The title refers to the call traditionally used by British publicans to announce that drinkers have time for one more round.

The novel opens on a group of friends drinking in their local pub and discussing the death of their close friend Jack. One of them, a semi-professional gambler called Ray “Lucky” Johnson, buys a drink for one of the others, Lenny “Gunner” Tate. Ray explains to Lenny that Jack’s wife, Amy, who isn’t present, wants Ray to scatter Jack’s ashes into the sea at Margate, in accordance with Jack’s final wishes. He shows Lenny the jar containing Jack’s ashes, and the two men discuss life and death and shared memories. Jack’s son Vince arrives in a car and the whole gang sets out for Margate.

As Vince drives, the men talk about why Amy isn’t with them; she is visiting her disabled daughter, June in hospital. Ray says that she wanted Jack’s friends to scatter his ashes. Through conversation and the interior monologues of the characters, we learn that Jack had wanted to be a doctor instead of a butcher. He and Vince fell out when Vince refused to enter the family butchering business. Vince is not Jack’s biological son. He is the orphan son of parents killed in the War. He realizes that his feelings about this situation motivated his refusal to follow in his father’s professional footsteps. Vince remembers his father’s last hospital stay: Jack had asked Vince to lend Ray some money.



Ray remembers sad times in his life. He has had a lifelong attraction to Jack’s wife Amy, dating back to a youthful relationship. He met his ex-wife Carol after failing to win the heart of Carol’s sister. His daughter Susie has emigrated to Australia. Carol was furious, but Ray gave Susie the money to go. Later he understood that Carol’s anger was caused in part by her frustration that she had never had the chance to travel herself, and Ray bought her a camper van. She left him nevertheless.

Vince had a childhood crush on Lenny’s daughter Sally. He asked Lenny’s permission to date her, only to leave her when she was pregnant. He convinced her to abort the baby; both Sally and Lenny hold a grudge against him.

Ray remembers helping Vince to start his auto business; he regrets selling his scrap yard to Vince so cheaply. He remembers when Jack dubbed him “Lucky,” during the War.



Another of Jack’s friends, Vic Tucker, thinks about his life as an undertaker: unlike Vince, he did choose his family’s business; unlike Jack, he never resented it. He remembers the day Jack confided to him that he was in financial trouble.

At the Chatham Naval Memorial, the group climbs a hill; the older men get out of breath. Back in the car, Vince leaves the road to Margate and pulls up instead at a place called Wick’s Farm. This is where his parents met, although only he knows this. When he tries to scatter the ashes, Lenny attacks him and they fight for a long time while the others look on in amazement. Lenny fights viciously and gains the upper hand, until Vince chokes Lenny and knocks him down. Vince opens the jar and releases one handful of ashes. Then he reseals the jar and they all drive on to Canterbury Cathedral, acting as if nothing has happened.

From the Cathedral, they proceed towards Margate. Ray thinks about his feelings for Amy. He knows that Amy had fallen out of love with Jack when he told her he wanted to abandon their mentally disabled daughter, June. Jack refused to visit June, so Ray started to drive Amy to June’s institution in his camper van. The two began a short-lived affair. They were caught by Vic, who was at the hospital to collect a body, but he never revealed their secret.



Ray remembers Jack’s final days. Jack borrowed money from Vince and gave it to Ray, asking him to gamble it for him and give the winnings to Amy. Under pressure, Ray abandoned his usual methods to go with his gut and won big.

The weather is stormy when the men arrive at Margate. They walk to the end of the pier. Ray tells Vince that he can repay him the money he loaned him via Jack. Together they all scatter Jack’s ashes.

Last Orders won the 1996 Booker Prize, and was the subject of brief controversy after an Australian academic claimed—falsely—that Swift had failed to acknowledge his debt to Faulkner. In 2001, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name.