I shouldn't write a book just because it would be published. You ought to go on until you've said everything you've got to say, and I've reached that point. I won't stop writing, because I've been a journalist all my life, before I became a novelist. So I shall do journalism, reviews and things like that. But in terms of books, this is my last.
Cancer means that Barnes, who turns 80 on Jan. 19, will spend the rest of his life on chemotherapy drugs. Still, he says, he doesn't grieve for his aging and ailing body. "We are these creatures who come into this earth unbidden, not consulted, and we live a certain amount of time much longer than our ancestors," he says. "But because we live longer, our body begins to break down and the medical costs increase."