The Dalkey Archive — Flann O'Brien

A fantastical caper -- and the final novel -- from the acclaimed twentieth-century Irish writer praised as being imbued “with the true comic spirit” by James Joyce.

No one would think that the end of the world would begin in the small town of Dalkey, twelve miles south of Dublin. Doomsday is the furthest thing from the minds of humble civil servant Mick Shaughnessy and his friend when they come across an injured swimmer near the sea. Helping the man back to his house, they discover their new acquaintance is a theologist and physicist who claims the impossible: not only can he control time, but he's developed a chemical compound that eliminates oxygen from the atmosphere.

To stop humanity's demise, Mick takes matters into his own hands, embarking on an outrageous adventure that has him meeting Saint Augustine in an underwater cave, recruiting a policeman who believes in a “Mollycule Theory” that has people turning into bikes and vice versa, and ferreting out the presumed-dead author James Joyce in a nearby resort town. Only time will tell if Mick can save planet earth . . .

“The Dalkey Archive is witty, sly, outrageous, and the characters remind one at times of Nabokov or De Vries.” -- Texture

“The undoubted humor of [The Dalkey Archive] derives as much from Mr. O'Brien's facile use of language as from the play of his fertile imagination. . . . Not to be missed.” -- Library Journal