After the success of BARCELONA PLATES and THE DOG CATCHER, Alexei Sayle proves himself to be a formidable literary talent in this wonderful first novel. Kelvin is 33, he lives in a small town in Lancashire, he has five close friends. Because their houses were cheap to buy they inhabit wonderful dwellings and they still have plenty of spare cash to spend on other things, they travel all over the region going to all manner of art events - plays, concerts, comedians, pretty much whoever comes to a nearby town they'll go and see them. They have a wonderful life - it doesn't last. After the catastrophe Kelvin is faced with huge questions: does art have a purpose? Can every sinner be redeemed? What is a good life?

'An excellent collection of dark, funny and bizarre short stories... brutally, cynically and honestly written... all in all a lot better than anything David Baddiel could ever manage.' - Loaded - '14 bleak funny pitiless tales... This is life looked at through the wrong end of a telescope, the vision of Nathaniel West in Miss Lonelyhearts, and to my mind just as good... Inside every fat git there's a poet trying to get out. Well, he's out.' - Observer - 'Sayle is a funny man, and these tales of pensioners-turned-hitmen, mysterious white Fiat Unos, and inveterate hypochondriacs defy you not to smile at the incremental absurdity of ordinary life.' - The Sunday Times - 'A cracking read.. dense with smart ideas, sour observations and loony rants' - Independent on Sunday - 'Barcelona Plates will put a smile on your face and a chill down your spine' - Time Out - 'Alexei Sayle's manner on the page is the same as it is on screen and stage: arch, dessicated and menacing... 'The Last Woman Killed in the War' is a thrilling and sensitive meditation on history, race and identity; confirming Sayle as a brilliant chronicler of big stories set in small worlds.' - The Times

Alexei Sayle is a comedian, actor, presenter and writer. His television work as a writer and performer includes The Young Ones, Alexei Sayle's Stuff, and The All New Alexei Sayle Show. He has written regularly for the Observer, Indepedent, Time Out, Car Magazine and Esquire and he has appeared in numerous films, from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to Gorky Park and Swing