An elegiac, witty novel traces the unlikely friendship between an elderly, memory-impaired man and a young art student after a chance meeting, using their conversations and shared moments as a way to probe time, loss, and the ethics of remembering; the intimate relationship is woven together with sharp, contemporary commentary on migration, national identity and the upheavals of modern Britain, all rendered in playful, inventive prose that shifts between anecdote, reflection and cultural critique.