Old Bastards: A Very Naughty Comedy

Stevie Duffy’s Old Bastards is rude, chaotic and far more affectionate than its title suggests. Tracy works in a nursing home she despises, stealing sleeping pills, buying weed from the man she fancies and doing as little as possible. Then one of the residents dies and apparently begins haunting her.

I loved how shamelessly unpleasant Tracy can be. She is selfish, foul-mouthed and completely unreliable, yet her growing panic is genuinely funny, particularly as she tries to decide whether the ghost wants justice or she is simply losing her mind.

Beneath the crude humour is a sharper story about the people society ignores, whether they are elderly residents or exhausted care workers who have stopped caring about themselves. Fast, filthy and deliberately ridiculous, Old Bastards is a dark Scottish comedy for readers who prefer their ghosts, carers and life lessons without an ounce of dignity.