An Indonesian man who is said to be 145 years-old has told interviewers he has had enough of life and wants to die. Official documentation gives Mbah Gotho's date of birth as 31 December 1870.

If confirmed that would make him 23 years older than the official world record holder, Jeanne Calment of France, who was born when Gotho was five and died in 1997 at the age of 122.

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Authorities in Gotho's hometown of Sragen, central Java, say they have verified his records and an ID card with his date of birth posted online. If confirmed, Gotho was 30 when Queen Victoria died; 45 when the Battle of the Somme took place; 74 at the end of World War II; and celebrated his 100th birthday on the same day Paul McCartney filed a lawsuit to dissolve The Beatles.

However, as yet there is no independent verification and unless that happens Gotho's name won't go in the record books. Instead, his name would go alongside those of James Olofintuyi from Nigeria, thought to be 171 when he died, and 163-year-old Dhaqabo Ebba from Ethiopia (The Mirror).

Speaking to local reporters, Mr Gotho said he'd had enough of life. He had outlived 10 siblings, four wives, and all his children. Now his grandchildren were independent, he said, he had nothing to live for. He mainly listens to the radio because his eyesight is failing and has to be spoon-fed and bathed.

Gotho's grandson said he had bought a grave near those of his children when he was 122 and had been preparing for death ever since.

"The gravestone there was made in 1992. That was 24 years ago," said the grandson (quoted in the Telegraph).

Gotho – whose most recent wife died in 1988 – also has great- and great-great grandchildren.

Asked what his secret to a long life was, he said: "Patience."