In this meditation on the tangled, tender nature of friendship, Andrew O’Hagan (Mayflies, Caledonian Road) invites you to forage through a lifetime of personal experiences as he examines how our closest relationships enhance and imbue our lives. Constructed as an extended essay, O’Hagan posits the notion of companionship as a universal constant, the guiding force that keeps our best and worst excesses in balance, an ever-flowing well of strength especially in these times of dark adversity.

Having O’Hagan as a guide through his own reminiscences is akin to being ensconced in a cosy pub on a filthy night, enveloping the reader with recollections of times gone by and offering succour like a literary hot toddy. The vagaries of his many relationships will inspire grinning recognition or head-nodding sympathy, from the laddish escapades of childhood to professional allegiances turned sour, each section illuminated by his poetic, lyrical prose.

The warp and weft of regret and loss are intertwined among the best of this. The death of a friendship (in both a metaphorical and literal sense) sees O’Hagan delicately inferring a wider discussion on the human condition and speaks to his natural capacity for empathy and observation. With that said, the beating heart of the essay always returns to the potency of human togetherness. Luminary and mentor Seamus Heaney is invoked and recalled upon often, Edna O’Brien anchors his heart and inhabits his senses, Colm Tóibín sends him oranges. On Friendship taps into the lifeblood of what it means to be a living, breathing, sentient being and the connections that sustain us. In a world of AI, digital assistants and ‘social’ media, Andrew O’Hagan’s curative superpowers are needed more than ever.

On Friendship is published by Faber on Thursday 9 October.