Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress, is English author Charles Dickens's second novel, and was first published as a serial 1837-39. The story centers on orphan Oliver Twist, born in a workhouse and sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. After escaping, Twist travels to London, where he meets "The Artful Dodger," a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal, Fagin.