Ablutions by Patrick deWitt

In a seedy Hollywood bar, a whiskey-loving barman takes notes for a novel about the drifters and losers who make up his clientele. In the hope of uncovering their secrets and motives, he establishes tentative friendships with them and is drawn even further into their nocturnal world. As he spirals into a life of booze and squalor, he comes to realise that escape is the only means of survival.