The Lowlife (Faber Editions)

One man gambles on the dogs and his own life in this rediscovered Jewish post-war classic of London's seedy underbelly, introduced by Iain Sinclair.

"A novel and author richly deserving of renewed attention."--Kirkus starred review ⭐

Never give up hope before the dogs have crossed the finishing-line.

Harryboy Boas is a lowlife gambler. When he's not at the track, he lives in a Hackney boarding house, reading Zola, eating salt beef, pressing trousers and repressing wartime memories. But when a new family moves into the apartment downstairs, his life starts to unravel and Harryboy soon finds himself sinking into a murky East End underworld where violence, guilt and gangsters are the inevitable result for those who cannot pay their dues.

A celebrated cult classic, The Lowlife brilliantly evokes post-war East London - dog tracks, sandwich shops, tenements, sex workers, newly arrived West Indians and Jews leaving for Finchley - all seen through the tragicomic eyes of Harryboy, our picaresque rogue hero suffering from 'existential burn-out in the shadow of the Holocaust' (Iain Sinclair) and driven to bet, brag and beg to survive.



Author: Alexander Baron
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 05/06/2026
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.70h x 4.90w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780571393473


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 04/01/2026

About the Author
Iain Sinclair has lived in Hackney since 1968. He is the award-winning author of numerous critically acclaimed books about London, including The Last London, Lights Out for the Territory, London Orbital, Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire and London Overground. He won the Encore Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel Downriver.