Julian English is the protagonist in John O'Hara's Appointment in Samarra. As inferred from the title, Julian fears that death is on his trail. Even after he has moved to a different town, unusual events put Julian’s life in a draconian state, which ends in his untimely self-destruction.

While at the Lantenengo Country Club, Julian’s behavior is quite unbecoming. To everyone’s dismay, he throws a drink in Harry Reilly's face for no good reason. Julian’s wretched behavior almost had him kicked out of the Christmas Eve gathering. Later, it hits Julian that the man he had just disrespected (Harry Reilly) was a significant investor in his car dealing business.

On a similar occasion during Christmas, Julian’s heavy drinking places him in yet another surreal situation. The drama starts when he and the flirtatious Helena hit the dance floor and soon vanish into Julian’s car. It is implied that Julian has just made love with the local gangster’s girlfriend (Helena). This incident is considered scandalous, and Julian is in trouble.

Furthermore, Julian becomes suicidal soon as his marriage starts to collapse. His infidelity and uncontrolled drinking make him lose Caroline, his wife. Things get worse when Julian fails to win over a local reporter in the community. As such, Julian resorts to excessive alcoholism while he contemplates his another romantic failure with Mary, a woman who had rejected him due to poor his financial status. He concludes that no woman in Gibbsville can love him, owing to his despicable social behavior, and poisons himself.

Julian is the thirty-year-old protagonist of the novel. A member of the WASP elite of Gibbsville, Julian is the head of a car dealership but isn’t really cut out for business. He is married to Caroline Walker English, an attractive and highly esteemed woman of his community. A heavy drinker of impulsive and reckless tendencies, Julian embarks on a self-destructive journey that ends in suicide. His relationship with his parents, particularly with his father, is distant and plays a key role in Julian’s self-destructive inclinations.