In this authorised biography, Zachary Leader argues that Kingsley Amis was not only the finest comic novelist of his generation, but a dominant figure in post-war British writing, as novelist, poet, critic and polemicist. Drawing not only on interviews with a range of Amis' friends, relatives, fellow writers, students and colleagues, many of them never before consulted, but also on hundreds of previously unpublished letters, Leader's biography will for the first time give a full picture of Amis' childhood, school days, life as a teacher, critic, political and cultural commentator, professional author, husband, father and lover. He explores Amis' fears and phobias, and the role that drink played in his life. And of course he pays due attention to Amis' work. As the editor of "The Letters of Kingsley Amis", hailed in the "Sunday Telegraph" as 'one of the last major monuments to the epistolary art', Leader is more than qualified to be his authorised biographer. His book will surprise, entertain and illuminate.
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Review
"Few literary biographies can match it for depth and intimacy" -- Sunday Times
"This is the best biography I have read for ages: deeply
researched, crisply written and beautifully judged" -- Daily Telegraph
"Unsurprisingly in a biography of this size, he really has left no
stone unturned" -- Scotsman
"awe-inspiring research" -- Seven, The Sunday Telegraph
"marvellous ... It's a pleasure to read, and the accumulation of
detail gives a real sense of a life being led" -- Independent
"this biography is in its way superb...Well-written [and]
balanced" -- Evening Standard
Books of the Year. Chosen by Andrew Marr -- The Saturday Herald
Diary Story. Julian Barnes on Kingsley Amis -- Independent on Sunday
The book I most look forward to reading is Zachary Leader's The
Life of Kingsley Amis" -- The Irish Times Books of the Year. Rev by Adam Sisman
`A detailed, intimate life of Amis as a friend, father, husband, wit, curmudgeon - and, above all, a writer'
-- Observer
"This is the best biography I have read for ages: deeply
researched, crisply written and beautifully judged" -- Daily Telegraph
"Unsurprisingly in a biography of this size, he really has left no
stone unturned" -- Scotsman
"awe-inspiring research" -- Seven, The Sunday Telegraph
"marvellous ... It's a pleasure to read, and the accumulation of
detail gives a real sense of a life being led" -- Independent
"this biography is in its way superb...Well-written [and]
balanced" -- Evening Standard
Books of the Year. Chosen by Andrew Marr -- The Saturday Herald
Diary Story. Julian Barnes on Kingsley Amis -- Independent on Sunday
The book I most look forward to reading is Zachary Leader's The
Life of Kingsley Amis" -- The Irish Times Books of the Year. Rev by Adam Sisman
`A detailed, intimate life of Amis as a friend, father, husband, wit, curmudgeon - and, above all, a writer'
-- Observer
Book Description
The eagerly-awaited authorised biography of Kingsley Amis.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By Fred
Format:Hardcover
This wonderfully long and detailed biography certainly makes Amis come alive; for the week or so it takes to read it, you almost feel you are living his life over again, so brilliantly is it written and so carefully researched. The story of the life of Kingsley Amis, the author of 'Lucky Jim'and many other very popular books of the 1950s to 80s, is often hilarious, quite sexy (he had a way with women), and at the same time embarrassing (he was so outspoken, even when you agree with his views). Amis was left-wing as a student and young man, drifting inexoraby to the right as he grew older and ending up downright bigoted. He also drank like a fish; the reader has the satisfaction of feeling his own excesses are nothing compared to this, and after all Amis was a success in life despite quite literally carrying his own bar with him if he was going anywhere where a drink would not be readily to hand (like the cinema, for example). He discarded two wonderful wives, that any sensible man would have done anything to gain and to keep (it is never really clear why this happened, an enigma that will never be fully resolved) along with a fellowship at Cambridge that might seem ideal to an aspiring intellectual and author. He was afraid of the dark, and especially of being alone. He went from being slim, handsome and promiscuous (so much so that his first wife was moved to write in lipstick on his bare back, as he lay asleep on the beach, 'I f*** anything'), to being fat, lazy and impotent while still at quite a young age.
There must be a lesson here for all of us, especially those of us who have enjoyed his books (when you read this account of his life, you can see where all the stories came from), if only we can work out what it is. It certainly makes you think (and laugh).
There must be a lesson here for all of us, especially those of us who have enjoyed his books (when you read this account of his life, you can see where all the stories came from), if only we can work out what it is. It certainly makes you think (and laugh).
By conjunction
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
To begin with I didn't like this book, in fact I put it away three times. This because of its style, I thought it humourless and pedantic.
In fact however Leader's style is down to a combination of academic virtuosity and prodigious research. Reading this, you get the feeling there is no-one who ever met Amis he hasn't talked to and made notes on. Consequently, during his account of any event in his life, you get references to different articles, conversations, references and asides that any number of acquaintances have come up with. Until you get used to it this makes the book very hard to read.
This is not the kind of biography where the author tells a story. Nor is it one where the author feels obliged to burden us with his opinions. But he does want to make sure we have understood the opinions of everyone who was involved at any time.
At no point is Leader analytical. When it comes to the difficulties or tragedies in Amis's life, we are spared sermons or even anything but his casual opinions. We are just told the story in unremitting - if appropriate - detail.
In the end I got enormous enjoyment, captivated by Amis's life. I got used to the style and it all flowed along. It was also easy to skip the odd page when the events discussed were not of interest without losing the rhythm.
I had read about eight of Amis's novels recently and wanted to know more about him and about his other works. This book works well for that as each book is discussed for itself and also situated in Amis's life.
The discussion of Amis's family life is rewarding and moving. You get the goods without being given the benefit of any moralising.
I don't read a lot of literary biographies, but I would have thought this a model.
In fact however Leader's style is down to a combination of academic virtuosity and prodigious research. Reading this, you get the feeling there is no-one who ever met Amis he hasn't talked to and made notes on. Consequently, during his account of any event in his life, you get references to different articles, conversations, references and asides that any number of acquaintances have come up with. Until you get used to it this makes the book very hard to read.
This is not the kind of biography where the author tells a story. Nor is it one where the author feels obliged to burden us with his opinions. But he does want to make sure we have understood the opinions of everyone who was involved at any time.
At no point is Leader analytical. When it comes to the difficulties or tragedies in Amis's life, we are spared sermons or even anything but his casual opinions. We are just told the story in unremitting - if appropriate - detail.
In the end I got enormous enjoyment, captivated by Amis's life. I got used to the style and it all flowed along. It was also easy to skip the odd page when the events discussed were not of interest without losing the rhythm.
I had read about eight of Amis's novels recently and wanted to know more about him and about his other works. This book works well for that as each book is discussed for itself and also situated in Amis's life.
The discussion of Amis's family life is rewarding and moving. You get the goods without being given the benefit of any moralising.
I don't read a lot of literary biographies, but I would have thought this a model.
Format:Paperback
If you enjoy the work of Kingsley Amis, and are curious about the man, you will enjoy this biography. The author succeeds brilliantly in marshalling an immense amount of research, while also creating a pacy narrative. Far from finding this book too long, as suggested by another reviewer, I would have liked to have read more.
Amis may not have been a 'nice' person in the conventional sense of the word, but he was a compelling human being and a tremendously funny writer. For insight and sheer enjoyment, I rank this alongside Peter Guralnick's wonderful two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, and just below Peter Ackroyd's peerless life of Charles Dickens.
Amis may not have been a 'nice' person in the conventional sense of the word, but he was a compelling human being and a tremendously funny writer. For insight and sheer enjoyment, I rank this alongside Peter Guralnick's wonderful two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, and just below Peter Ackroyd's peerless life of Charles Dickens.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
No Forest but a Billion Trees
I hesitated before buying this doorstep of 996 pages. Yes 996 pages devoted to a minor writer whose novels I had never even liked although I had enjoyed some of his magazine... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2010 by John Fitzpatrick
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lucky him
Detailed and dilligent biography of the great man that's unlikely to be bettered. Exceptionally well written, the book paints a neutral picture of the subject; Amis is shown to be... Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2007 by Charles
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