English novelist and historian Robert Irwin’s bibliography is intertwined with, and reflective of, his publisher Dedalus: both debuted almost exactly 40 years ago, with Irwin’s The Arabian Nightmare remaining his best-known work. Tom’s Version, his 10th novel, talks of edgy things – from abusive relationships to narcotics and sexual power games – but with a jovial, almost cosy air that suggests this is all now second nature for the 77-year-old author.

The majority of the story takes place in late 1970, with a jolting coda that reunites most of the characters around three decades later, and flits around the campuses of Oxford and St Andrews (where Irwin happens to have studied and lectured). It’s a sequel of sorts to The Runes Have Been Cast, from 2021, with Tom Byrne the sole new character and de facto protagonist. An Irish warehouse worker and frustrated poet obsessed with W. B. Yeats, Tom joins this cast of eccentrics, outcasts and bad eggs after joining an experimental ‘encounter group’ where participants embark on communal activities while disrobed.

Though Tom functions as the rational anchor in the context of his associates, business swiftly becomes risky as he enters into an affair with Molly, a knowingly absurd femme fatale with a firearm fetish. There are getaway chases, vegetarian restaurants, magic(k) and a borderline-overwhelming amount of namechecks for what I assume are Irwin’s favourite works of literature: Tom’s Version is in many ways a book about books, with all the erudite insularity that entails. For all its esoteric trappings, there’s nothing especially high-minded about this energetic romp at its core, which I mean in a good way.