Alexander Baron’s The Lowlife

Alexander Baron’s cult classic The Lowlife, first published by Black Spring in 1963, has recently been reissued by Faber. Set in Hackney in the aftermath of WW2, Baron’s novel follows the descent of Zola-reading gambler Harryboy Boas into the murky world of East End gangsters, hoodlums and loan sharks. Iain Sinclair, who has written an introduction about Baron for the new edition, was discussing the book and its author with Susie Thomas and Ken Worpole, co-editors of So We Live: The Novels of Alexander Baron (Five Leaves).

You can listen to Alexander Baron’s The Lowlife online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Alexander Baron’s The Lowlife is an episode from London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop.

This episode is 60:45 long.

This episode was published on Mar 21, 2026.

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