Vigil/George Saunders

Vigil

What a lovely home I found myself plummeting toward. . . Not for the first time - in fact, for the 343rd time - Jill 'Doll' Blaine finds herself crashing down to earth, head-first, rear-up, to accompany her latest charge into the afterlife. She soon realises however that this man is not quite like the others. For powerful oil tycoon K.J. Boone will not be consoled, because he has nothing to regret. He lived a big, bold life, and the world is better for it... isn't it?

As death approaches, a cast of worldly and otherworldly visitors arrive. Crowds of people and animals - alive and dead - materialise, birds swarm the dying man's room, and associates from decades past show up, all clamouring for a reckoning.