Brought to you by Penguin.

Hello and welcome to the Penguin podcast where we talk to writers about writing.

I'm Niharthaanaika and today I'm speaking

to a writer who's pretty much a British national treasure. He's the author of 19 books,

including Human Traces, Charlotte Gray and Birdsong. The Independent on Sunday called his latest

book, The Seventh Sun, his most intriguing fictional offering yet. It is, of course, the wonderful Sebastian Falks, and I am so pleased he can join us today.

Sebastian, it's lovely to see you.

Very nice to see you, Neil.

Thank you for writing this extraordinary book.

What does this book say about the age of the author when he wrote it?

The author being me, I suppose.

What does it say about my age?

I don't think it says anything very much about my age to.

It says something about my continuing interest in the world, I suppose.

But I think that's something

I've had since I was about five and continue to have.

Did you approach your 70th with any kind of philosophical leaning, or is it just another year?

I approached it with a slightly blurred vision owing to a cataract operation and

slight pain in my left knee. But apart from that, nothing, no trepidation really. It is just a number,

as they say. I was also aware, I suppose, of people of my age, some of them dying, which is never a good thing. My best friend

from university died earlier this year, and my American publisher died a few weeks ago, and

Andrew, he was a bit older than me. My beloved father-in-law died. So, yeah, a bit of death,

...