It’s 2022 and Nigel Marsh, bestselling author of 2005’s Fat,
Forty & Fired, is staring down the barrel of turning sixty.
Every week he finds himself bumping awkwardly into
evidence of his growing older. His parents have both passed
away, he’s losing his hearing and he and his wife Kate are
now empty nesters – within two months their house has
emptied of all four children as well as the pet dog.
Now he finds himself wearing a dressing-gown at his writing
desk in a storage room under his garage wondering whether
his happiest days are behind him.
But just because the first half of life is full of exciting, lifechanging events like becoming educated, building a career,
forming partnerships and raising children – why can’t getting
older be a good thing too?
The term ‘old age’ has become irretrievably negative when
applied to people, so Nigel decides to rebrand it into ‘the third
trimester’ of life.
Youth has its unique upsides, but so does old age. You
care less what other people think of you; you’ve worked out
who your real friends are; you haven’t got to spend your life
commuting to a crushingly pointless job, or working for an
arsehat; you’ve nothing to prove to anyone; you have the
freedom to devote proper time to getting really good at a
hobby…the list goes on.
In Smart, Stupid & Sixty, Nigel ponders his entry into the third
trimester – ageing well, staying healthy, sex, decreasing work,
parenting adult children, maintaining friendships, his parents’
passing, learning new skills and the secret to living a happy
life and making the most of getting older.
