It was published in 1985, short-listed for the 1985 Booker Prize, and won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award and The Age Book of the Year Award.

The novel tells the story of Herbert Badgery, self-admitted liar, trickster, and confidence man, the "Illywhacker" of the title (though "illywhacker" is also supposed to be Australian slang for "a stick for smacking a child with, (not allowed any more)").

Considered metafiction or magical realism by some, the novel is divided into three books of eighty-six, sixty-one, and sixty-six short chapters respectively, with chapters often shorter than a single page. It covers Herbert's life and marriage and that of his son, Charles, in a rambunctious and meandering style.