Swift, Graham (1949-…), is an English author known for novels that examine the impact of history, especially family history, on the domestic lives of the central characters. Swift won the 1996 Booker Prize for Last Orders (1996). The Booker Prize is the United Kingdom’s highest literary award.
In Last Orders, Swift wrote about four aging men who carry out the last wish of a deceased friend by taking his ashes to a seaside town to scatter them from a pier. During the trip, the men relive the exhilarating experiences of life during World War II (1939-1945). Old rivalries and grudges surface along with the stresses of their present conflicts with wives and children.
Swift’s first novel was The Sweet-Shop Owner (1980). It deals with a dying shop owner who recognizes during his final days that he has lived an unhappy and unfulfilled life. Swift’s next novel, Shuttlecock (1981), is a mystery about a man who discovers conflicting information about his father’s role in World War II.
Perhaps Swift’s most praised novel is Waterland (1983). The book portrays a history teacher, his obsession with his family history, and the history of the Fens, a flat watery area in eastern England. Out of This World (1988) is a novel about a father and daughter. The narrative moves back and forth in time in the form of monologues by the two characters. Ever After (1992), like Swift’s other works, examines the effect of history and ancestry on modern characters. The story describes a disillusioned university professor who becomes fascinated with the life of a scholarly ancestor from the 1800’s. Here We Are (2020) relates the intertwined fates of three variety show performers one summer during the post-World War II era of the 1950’s. Swift also wrote a collection of short stories, Learning to Swim and Other Stories (1982).
Graham Colin Swift was born in London. He received B.A. and M.A. degrees from Cambridge University. Swift taught at various universities in London from 1974 to 1983, when he became a full-time writer.
