Swami and Friends is the first of a series of novels written by R. K. Narayan (1906–2001), English language novelist from India. The novel, the first book Narayan wrote, is set in British India in a fictional town called Malgudi. The second and third books in the trilogy are The Bachelor of Arts and The English Teacher.
Swami and Friends is the first novel written by R. K. Narayan. It was published through the intervention of a friend and neighbour (“Kittu” Purna) who was studying at Oxford. Through him, Graham Greene came into contact with Narayan’s work, became especially interested in it and took it upon himself to place the book with a reputable English publisher (Hamish Hamilton). Graham Greene was responsible for the title Swami and Friends, changing it from Narayan’s Swami, the Tate, suggesting that it would have the advantage of having some resemblance to Rudyard Kipling’s Stalky & Co..
Greene arranged the details of the contract and remained closely involved until the novel was published. Narayan’s indebtedness to Greene is inscribed on the front endpaper of a copy of Swami and Friends Narayan presented to Greene: “But for you, Swami should be in the bottom of Thames now”.
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