The Lowlife is a 1963 novel by Alexander Baron, reissued in May of 2025 by Faber. It’s described as a cult classic. I don’t quite know what one of those is. Maybe it’s a book considered very good, but through bad luck doesn’t get the readership it deserves.

As chance would have it, The Lowlife is very much about luck. Harryboy Boas, an East End Jack-the-lad, now in his forties, makes a living with occasional stints of rag-trade employment, only designed to support his true passions of gambling and reading. He’s an essentially decent chap, who tends to put a positive spin on his life, to the extent of inventing a property empire with which to impress a young couple who move into his apartment building in Hackney.

The couple, Evelyn and Vic, are the opposite, finding themselves in a fascinating, colourful, energetic place, full of varied, friendly people, made wholly negative by Evelyn’s snobbery and Vic’s defeatist approach to life.

Reading the book I began to wonder about luck. In some ways, it’s a clear cut case. The dog on which you have placed your bet either wins or loses, magnifying or disappearing your money in the process. On the other hand, what is winning anyway? Is it being in business where you work all the time? Is it Evelyn’s dream of a smart house in a neighbourhood where there are no blue collar workers around to bring down the tone? Or is it Harry’s plan, which involves making a big win on the dogs, and using this to fund a blissful few weeks in his Hackney flat, reading a recently purchased set of the complete works of Emile Zola? As a reader that last option sounded the most appealing.

Without giving too much away, a run of bad luck leads to a dramatic denouement, out of which you could say there’s an ending that is happy or sad, or both.

Honestly if you think you are not doing well, there is reassurance to be had here.

I really enjoyed The Lowlife. It’s written in an attractive, accessible style, compelling in its story-line, fascinating on the subjects of fate and luck.

A cult classic, which I thoroughly recommend. I’m lucky to have come across it.