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The Life of Kingsley Amis
 
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The Life of Kingsley Amis (Hardcover)

by Zachary Leader (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
RRP: £25.00
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Frequently Bought Together

The Life of Kingsley Amis + The Letters of Kingsley Amis + Lucky Jim (Penguin Modern Classics)
Price For All Three: £33.60

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 600 pages
  • Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd; illustrated edition edition (16 Nov 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0224062271
  • ISBN-13: 978-0224062275
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.7 x 6.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 271,992 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Observer

`A detailed, intimate life of Amis as a friend, father, husband, wit, curmudgeon - and, above all, a writer'


Evening Standard

"this biography is in its way superb...Well-written [and]
balanced"
See all Product Description

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A detailed and amusing history of an enigmatic man, 2 Feb 2007
By Fred (Oxford, England) - See all my reviews
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).
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Lucky him, 12 Jun 2007
By Charles "mrfreedom" (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)      
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 a remarkable and prolific writer who is not without flaws. His intelligence is immense - lefties who seek to paint all people who don't buy into their multi culutral fantasy land as stupid would do well to take a look at Kingsley, whose wisdom on the declining social state of Britain is worth reading. His and Larkin's correspondence, while occasionally irritating because of their familiarity with each other, shows people with big brains and right wing views.
Likely to take a good couple of months to get through, TLOKA is worth it. I wouldn't say it's one of the best or one of the most entertaining biographies I've ever read, but it is good.
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