The Actual is a 1997 novella by the American author Saul Bellow.

Harry Trellman has formed a friendship with the fabulously wealthy Sigmund Adletsky.

Publishers Weekly called it "(a) kind of an affectionate, latter-day 'Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock", in which "plot (is) secondary".

[1] Kirkus Reviews considered it to be "witty" and "sharp", with "vividly sketched characters" but "perfunctory" plotting.

[2] In the Guardian, Martin Amis called it "scrupulously written".