Lionel Shriver by Mary Hockaday

Award-winning novelist and journalist Lionel Shriver talks about her new novel Should We Stay or Should We Go, a thought-provoking reflection on ageing and mortality.

Medical professionals in their early 50s Kay and Cyril Wilkinson agree in 1991 to commit suicide together when they turn 80 after seeing Kay’s father spend ten years with Alzheimer’s. But what happens when they reach 80? Shriver portrays 12 parallel universes, from a Cuckoo’s Nest-style retirement home to the discovery of a cure for ageing, cryogenic preservation and unexpected pleasures of dementia. The novel weaves in contemporary issues including Brexit, coronavirus, and mass migration.

Shriver has written 14 novels, including the winner of the 2005 Orange Prize We Need to Talk about Kevin; The Mandibles: A Family, 2029 – 2047; and The Motion of the Body Through Space. Her work has been translated into 28 languages. Here she talks to Mary Hockaday, former controller of BBC World Service.

This event is part of the festival’s programme of American literature and culture.