Aubrey Malone was born in Ballina to the well-known solicitor Hugh Dillon-Malone. His memoir begins with him entering life as the youngest of nine children. His family moved to Dublin in 1969 after his father retired, there he went on to finish an Arts degree in 1975. After a number of years teaching in primary schools he transitioned to freelance journalism and then book writing. Last of Nine covers his interest in film, books, music, sport, and travel as he acclimatises to his new life in Dublin.