Ageing
Deeply moving but bleak: Plan 75 reviewed
Plan 75 is a dystopian Japanese drama about a government-sponsored euthanasia programme introduced to address Japan’s ageing society. Aged 75…
The small NHS failings that let down patients like my mother
The NHS is letting down patients in small, crucial ways
When does ‘middle age’ end and ‘old age’ begin?
I was a bit irritated by all the millennials saying the Superbowl half-time show made them feel old. The 15-minute…
Older voters are killing British democracy
There is an idea of the state that argues that the role of government is to act as a benevolent…
Why Mick Jagger is an insult to rock
New York Orthodox Easter Sunday came late in May this year, and I spent it at an old friend’s Fifth…
We Lumas have the weight of the world on our shoulders
In the introduction to an anthology of his jazz record reviews, the poet Philip Larkin imagines his readers. They’re not…
The upsides of dementia: Forgetfulness can be a blessing
My 91-year-old father-in-law has always had a terror of hospitals. This dates from his time as a Royal Marine when,…
How the ancients kept their minds young
In her cover story last week, Camilla Cavendish argued that we could keep mentally fit in old age through ‘physical…
Train your brain: How to keep your mind young
‘Beep!’ This is one of the most maddening computer games I’ve ever played. I’m tracking a flock of birds, and…
I love life – and girls – too much to act my age
New York A little Austrian count was born to my daughter last week in Salzburg, early in the morning of…
You deserve a prize if you manage to finish Jim Crace’s latest novel
This remorselessly slow-moving, hazily allegorical drama about ageing and xenophobia is Jim Crace’s 12th book, and the first to appear…
Low life
‘Have you ever thought of having some colour put in, love?’ said Julian as he shaved my neck with a…
Down – if not out – in Paris
Virginie Despentes remains best known in this country for her 1993 debut novel, Baise-Moi, about two abused young women who…
The slow (and ignominious) death of the British funeral
I mourn for the traditional ceremony
An old man’s guide to living dangerously
At 77, it is clear to me that increased longevity can be a curse rather than a blessing
Confessions of a Saga lout
Baby boomers like me aren’t giving up irresponsible hedonism as we age. We’re just getting worse at it
Bring back the bungalow!
We’re not building the right houses for our ageing population
Max Hastings’s diary: How sporting tourists play into Nicola Sturgeon’s hands
During our annual odyssey around the Scottish Highlands, I read Tears of the Rajas, Ferdinand Mount’s eloquent indictment of imperial…
Sorry Katie Hopkins, but I’m not dieting. Ever
Why I am not dieting. Ever
Dear Mary: How can I lie about my age and still use my Senior Railcard?
Q. I was not brought up in England and don’t appear in Who’s Who. This means that there is no…
Anne Tyler’s everyday passions
There was nothing remarkable about the Whitshanks. None of them was famous. None of them could claim exceptional intelligence, and…
Bob Dylan and the illusion of modern times
Bob Dylan and the illusion of ‘your era’
Life is full of little endings. We should pay them more attention
Life is full of little endings. We should pay them more attention
Why the Ancient Greeks didn’t have middle-aged spread
A drug has been invented to halt what is known as middle-aged spread. But it would be so much better…
It’s not just left-wingers who think the bosses’ pay boom is unhealthy
The FTSE100 index stands precisely where it did in the first week of December 1999. Whichever way you look at…
