A short life of the author
Andrew O’Hagan (b. 1968) was born in Glasgow and raised in Kilwinning, Ayrshire. He studied English at the University of Strathclyde and was editor-at-large of the London Review of Books.
Life and Career
The Missing (1995) — a non-fiction book about people who disappear in Britain — established O’Hagan as a writer of unusual empathy and stylistic distinction. Our Fathers (1999) — about three generations of men shaped by the rise and fall of Scottish public housing — was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and is one of the finest debut novels of its decade.
Be Near Me (2006) — about an English Catholic priest in a Scottish village — and The Illuminations (2015) — about a grandmother and grandson connected by war and photography — are lyrical, morally complex novels. Mayflies (2020) — about two friends who went to a music festival in 1986 and must face mortality thirty years later — is his most emotionally direct book.
Major Works and Themes
O’Hagan writes about class, Catholicism, Scotland, masculinity, and the failure and persistence of social ideals. His long-form essays — particularly “Ghosting” (about Julian Assange), “The Satoshi Affair” (about Craig Wright), and “The Secret Life” (about the philosophy of anonymity) — are among the finest non-fiction of the twenty-first century.
Key Works
- Our Fathers (1999) — Booker shortlist
- Be Near Me (2006)
- Mayflies (2020)
Collecting O’Hagan
Our Fathers first edition (Faber and Faber, 1999) brings $30–$60. O’Hagan signs at UK literary events. His essay collections are undervalued by collectors.