Amsterdam [Hardcover]

When good-time, fortysomething Molly Lane dies of an unspecified degenerative illness, her many friends and numerous lovers are led to think about their own mortality. Vernon Halliday, editor of the up-market newspaper The Judge, persuades his old friend Clive Linley, a self-indulgent composer of some reputation, to enter into a euthanasia pact with him. Should either of them succumb to such an illness, the other will effect his death. From this point onwards we are in little doubt as to the novel's outcome--it's only a matter of who will kill whom. In the meantime, compromising photographs of Molly's most distinguished lover, foreign secretary Julian Garmony, have found their way into the hands of the press, and as rumours circulate he teeters on the edge of disgrace. However, this is McEwan, so it is no surprise to find that the rather unsavoury Garmony comes out on top. McEwan is master of the writer's craft, and while this is the sort of novel that wins prizes, his characters remain curiously soulless amidst the twists and turns of plot. --Lisa Jardine

“with Alan Bates reading, HarperCollins has scored a palpable hit that captures perfectly the McEwan menace.”
Times 5/12/98

“Alan Bates has the luxury of an unedited text, which he delivers in a rich, fruity timbre, with both ease and pleasure.”
Observer 17/1/99

“Deliciously sharply written, this tale of moral dilemmas is superbly read by Alan Bates.”
Express 19/12/98

“Bates conveys that he is enjoying the book, especially the tightly realised descriptive passages and the racy narrative.”
Financial Times 12/12/98

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

'Easily his most enjoyable book - McEwan writes here with unobtrusive panache.' David Profumo, Daily Telegraph

On a chilly February day two old friends meet in the throng outside a crematorium to pay their last respects to Molly Lane. Both Clive Linley and Vernon Halliday had been Molly's lovers in the days before they reached their current eminence, Clive as Britain's most successful modern composer, Vernon as editor of the quality broadsheet, The Judge. Gorgeous, feisty Molly had had other lovers too, notably Julian Garmony, Foreign Secretary, a notorious right-winger tipped to be the next prime minister. In the days that follow Molly's funeral Clive and Vernon will make a pact that will have consequences neither has foreseen. Each will make a disastrous moral decision, their friendship will be tested to its limits and Julian Garmony will be fighting for his political life. A contemporary morality tale that is as profound as it is witty, this short novel is perhaps the most purely enjoyable fiction Ian McEwan has ever written. And why Amsterdam? What happens there to Clive and Vernon is the most delicious shock in a novel brimming with surprises. (20050217)

In this contemporary morality tale, as profound as it is witty, two old friends meet to pay their last respects to Molly Lane. Both had been Molly's lovers in the days before they reached their current eminence, one as Britain's most successful modern composer, the other as editor of a quality broadsheet.

In the days that follow Molly's funeral the two friends will make a pact that will have consequences neither has foreseen. Each will make a disastrous moral decision, their friendship will be tested to its limits and one of Molly's other lovers, the Foreign Secretary, a notorious right-winger tipped to be the next prime minister, will have to fight for his political life.

And why Amsterdam? What happens there is the most delicious shock of all in this enjoyable fiction brimming with surprises.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Ian McEwan has written collections of stories including First Love, Last Rites and In Between the Sheets, and several novels, The Cement Garden, The Comfort of Strangers, The Child in Time, The Innocent, Black Dogs, The Daydreamer, Enduring Love, Amsterdam, Atonement and Saturday. He won the Booker Prize for Amsterdam in 1998. (19981028)