Upon its release in Great Britain, Lanark made a significant splash in the literary world, garnering praise from notable figures such as novelist Anthony Burgess. It was lauded as a masterpiece, with critic G. Ross Roy likening it to Carlos Fuentes’ Terra Nostra. The novel’s distinctive blend of features—including censorable illustrations, a testament to Gray’s talents as a painter and draftsman, bold typographical choices, extensive erudition, and audacious wit—firmly positioned Alasdair Gray as a leading figure in the realm of metafiction.

Following the success of Lanark, Gray continued to explore literary boundaries, though his later works exhibited a more restrained ambition. His 1983 collection, Unlikely Stories, Mostly, is a testament to his engagement with the fantastical motifs of literary giants like Franz Kafka and Jorge Luis Borges. In contrast, the novel 1982, Janine (1984) demonstrates Gray’s adeptness with narrative devices reminiscent of those used in Lanark, this time applied to a parodic exploration of sadomasochistic themes.

Gray ventured into more conventional storytelling with The Fall of Kelvin Walker: A Fable of the Sixties (1985). This novel stands out as a broad satire, offering a critique of Calvinist values—an ideology Gray viewed with evident disdain. Thus, while his subsequent works may not have reached the towering ambition of Lanark, they nonetheless reflect his versatility and critical engagement with diverse literary styles and themes.