''This Champagne Mojito Is The Last Thing I Own'' is a 2008 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the seventh in the

Ross O'Carroll-Kelly Ross O'Carroll-Kelly is a satirical fictional Irish character, a wealthy South County Dublin rugby union jock created by journalist Paul Howard. The character first appeared in a January 1998 column in the ''Sunday Tribune'' newspaper and late ...

series. It coincided with the beginning of the

Post-2008 Irish economic downturn The post-2008 Irish economic downturn in the Republic of Ireland, coincided with a series of banking scandals, followed the 1990s and 2000s Celtic Tiger period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment, a subsequent pr ...

and the release of the first play about Ross, '' The Last Days of the Celtic Tiger''.

Title

The title is a reference to Jonathan Rendall's novel ''This Bloody Mary (Is the Last Thing I Own)''. A champagne Mojito is a cocktail made with

spearmint Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is a species of mint, ''Mentha spicata'' (, native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is nat ...

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

and

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

, which Ross purchases with his last €20.

Plot

Ross's father Charles is imprisoned, Ross is forced to work for a living as the economic crash coincides with his father's downfall, and his wife Sorcha leaves him.

Reception

The book was a bestseller. ''This Champagne Mojito Is The Last Thing I Own'' was nominated for the Popular Fiction award at the

Irish Book Awards The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. In 2018 An Post took over sponsorship of the awards from Bord Gais Energy. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. ...

References

{{Ross O'Carroll-Kelly 2008 Irish novels Penguin Books books Ross O'Carroll-Kelly Fiction set in 2006 Fiction set in 2007