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Departure(s)
On the occasion of his eightieth birthday, one of our great novelists delivers a playful and profound work about memory, love and the writer’s endgame.
Departure(s) is a work of fiction – but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.
It is the story of a man called Stephen and a woman called Jean, who fall in love when they are young and again when they are old. It is the story of an elderly Jack Russell called Jimmy, enviably oblivious to his own mortality.
It is also the story of how the body fails us, whether through age, illness, accident or intent. And it is the story of how experiences fade into anecdotes, and then into memory. Does it matter if what we remember really happened? Or does it just matter that it mattered enough to be remembered?
It begins at the end of life – but it doesn’t end there. Ultimately, it’s about the only things that ever really mattered: how we find happiness in this life, and when it is time to say goodbye.
"Barnes explores memory, identity, and aging in this elegiacal and witty metafictional novella. . . . [and] remains in top form. Readers with a penchant for the precise prose of Ian McEwan or the collage metafiction of Sigrid Nunez will love his latest." — Library Journal (starred review)
EDITIONS & TRANSLATIONS
English Editions
Departure(s). London: Jonathan Cape, 2026. [Visit the Penguin Random House website.]
Departure(s). New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2026. [Visit the Alfred A. Knopf website]
Departure(s). Toronto: Random House Canada, 2026.
Audio Editions
Bolinda Publishing, 2026. [Read by the author.]
Translated Editions
[Dutch]. Vertrek(punt), Atlas, 2026. Translated by Jelle Noorman.
[French]. Départ(s), Stock, 2026. Translated by Jean-Pierre Aoustin.
[Italian]. Partenze, Einaudi, 2026. Translated by Susanna Basso.
EXCERPTS & READINGS
[Details forthcoming]INTERVIEWS
14 January 2026 - Katie Razzall, "Julian Barnes on his last novel: 'I hope it's a good one to go out on'," BBC.
15 January 2026 - Terry Gross, "Julian Barnes says he's enjoying himself, but that 'Departure(s)' is his last book," Fresh Air (NPR).
17 January 2026 - Mick Brown, "Julian Barnes interview: 'This is my last book'," The Telegraph.
REVIEWS
7 January 2026 - Max Liu, "Departure(s) — Julian Barnes’s ‘last book’ is a triumphant meditation on memory and endings," Financial Times.
10 January 2026 - Anthony Cummins, "Julian Barnes’s search for an ending," The Observer.
18 January 2026 - David Sexton, "Departure(s) by Julian Barnes: Love, sex and a real sense of an ending," The Standard.
18 January 2026 - Clare McHugh, "Julian Barnes’s final novel is about Julian Barnes," Washington Post.
19 January 2026 - Dwight Garner, "A Briny Englishman (and Booker Prize Winner) Says Farewell," New York Times.
19 January 2026 - Alex Clark, "Departure(s) by Julian Barnes review – this final novel is a slippery affair," The Guardian.
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