They were painting the gothic corridors of the railway hotel when the economist arrived. It was about six o'clock in the evening, early in May, which is no time to die ... Thus opens this brilliant novel, the story of Julian, a 38-year-old economist who has learned he is dying of lung cancer and has only a short time left to live. Racked with constant pain that is only partially assuaged by copious amounts of alcohol and drugs, Julian faces the loneliness of approaching death as his marriage with Christabel is made strained and difficult by the knowledge of his illness. When he meets seventeen-year-old Sally Cohen, young, exuberant, and full of life, he sees a chance to live more fully until the end and embarks on a passionate affair that will have devastating results for Julian and both of the women who love him ...
James Kennaway (1928-1968) was the acclaimed author of several novels and screenplays, including Tunes of Glory (1956), which he adapted for a classic film starring Alec Guinness. Kennaway's untimely death cut short a brilliant career, but he is now being recognized as a major figure in modern Scottish fiction. This edition of Kennaway's posthumous masterpiece The Cost of Living Like This (1969) features an introduction by Frederic Raphael and joins Kennaway's The Mind Benders (1963), also available from Valancourt.