The Last Days is Raymond Queneau's autobiographical novel of Parisian
student life in the 1920s: Vincent Tuquedenne tries to reconcile his
love for reading with the sterility of studying as he hopes to study his
way out of the petite bourgeoisie to which he belongs. Vincent and his
generation are contrasted with an older generation of retired teachers
and petty crooks, and both generations come under the bemused gaze of
the waiter Alfred, whose infallible method of predicting the future
mocks prevailing scientific models. Similarly, Queneau's literary
universe operates under its own laws, joining rigorous artistry with a
warm evocation of the last days of a bygone world.