Lanark cover art

Lanark

A Life in Four Books

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About this listen

FOR THE FIRST TIME UNABRIDGED IN AUDIO

READ BY ALAN CUMMING and ANGUS KING
WITH ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS FROM ALASDAIR GRAY HIMSELF

'Probably the greatest novel of the century' Observer

Lanark, a modern vision of hell set in the disintegrating cities of Unthank and Glasgow, tells the interwoven stories of Lanark and Duncan Thaw. A work of extraordinary imagination, its playful narrative conveys a profound message, both personal and political, about humankind's inability to love, and yet our compulsion to go on trying.

First published in 1981, Lanark established Alasdair Gray as one of Britain’s leading writers and kick-started the modern renaissance of Scottish literature.

©2026 Alasdair Gray (P)2026 Canongate Books Ltd Dystopian Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Metaphysical & Visionary Satire Science Fiction World Literature

Critic reviews

Remarkable . . . Lanark is a work of loving and vivid imagination, yielding copious riches (WILLIAM BOYD)
I was absolutely knocked out by Lanark. I think it's the best in Scottish literature this century (IAIN BANKS)
All stars
Most relevant
Ive tried to read the book several times before and never quite cracked it but did manage the whole thing as this excellently produced and performed audiobook. It is often lauded as a high point of Scottish culture and there are interesting and apparently innovative aspects and parts to it but the moralising tone and underlying naive student level politics are wearing to me anyway although most of Scotlands voting public may well lap this up. It is a fantasy of course but this may put it in tune with the age of algorithms and virtue signalling. For me I ultimately find a boring flaw in it which just puts me off. Disappointed

Much Easier to Listen to This Than Read the Book

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