Closing Time shares characteristics with each of Heller's previous five novels. Of course, its closest similarity is with Catch-22, with which it shares characters, such as Yossarian, Milo Minderbender, and Chaplain Tappmann; evokes episodes, such as Yossarian's hospitalization, Snowden's death, and Yossarian's sitting naked in a tree refusing to accept Milo's offer of chocolate-covered cotton; and recalls the circular, non-sequitur, absurdist dialogue of its predecessor and the surrealistic vision of "The Eternal City" chapter in its portrayal of the PABT and its sub-basements.

The monologues of Sammy Singer and Lew Rabinowitz are reminiscent of Heller's first major experiment with internal monologue in Something Happened; the cast of bumbling politicians, secret agents, and public relations officers reflects the antigovernment satire of Good as Gold (1979); the emphasis upon aging reminds readers of Heller's portrait of King David in God Knows (1984); and the depiction of capitalism as the major...