https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-amis-papers--5938678Rachel Papers to Inside Story, and Kingsley Amis's fiction from Lucky Jim to The Biographer's Moustache.
The podcast is hosted by Martin Locock, a poet and author, who likes most of the Amis's work.]]>enBooksCopyright Martin Locockhttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/40d934d2e57358bf1f4d7dbc5e35dd9e.jpghttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-amis-papers--5938678Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:11:43 +0000Martin LocockMartin Locockfeeds@spreaker.comThe Amis papers is a podcast reviewing Martin Amis's fiction one book at a time, from the Rachel Papers to Inside Story, and Kingsley Amis's fiction from Lucky Jim to The Biographer's Moustache. The podcast is hosted by Martin Locock, a poet and...Rachel Papers to Inside Story, and Kingsley Amis's fiction from Lucky Jim to The Biographer's Moustache.
The podcast is hosted by Martin Locock, a poet and author, who likes most of the Amis's work.]]>trueepisodichttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep37-s2ep15-the-alteration-1976--72307187
Things mentioned:

Philip K Dick The Man in the High Castle (1962)
Len Deighton SS GB (1978)
Robert Harrris Fatherland (1992)

John Salisbury - Kinglsey Amis YouTube playlist 
Kingsley Amis on the Russell Harty Show (1975)
Audiobook The Alteration
]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72307187Wed, 03 Jun 2026 06:46:09 +0000Martin LocockAmis's foray into speculative fiction examines an alternative history in which England remains Catholic, the Papacy retains its hegemony, and young Hubert Anvil's soprano voice is so exceptional that his elders and betters propose to preserve it by...
Things mentioned:

Philip K Dick The Man in the High Castle (1962)
Len Deighton SS GB (1978)
Robert Harrris Fatherland (1992)

John Salisbury - Kinglsey Amis YouTube playlist 
Kingsley Amis on the Russell Harty Show (1975)
Audiobook The Alteration
]]>2425false215fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep36-s2ep14-ending-up-1974--71897360
Language note: includes a  homophobic slur and racist attitudes

1989 TV adaptation with John Mills and Lionel Jeffries


 

 ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71897360Thu, 07 May 2026 08:18:46 +0000Martin LocockFive old people live in Tuppenny Halfpenny Cottage and spend their time dealing with health problems, the prospect of death, and their irritating housemates.  A black comedy which leaves few characters from its aim (apart from what is probably the...
Language note: includes a  homophobic slur and racist attitudes

1989 TV adaptation with John Mills and Lionel Jeffries


 

 ]]>1143false214fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep35-s2ep13-the-riverside-villas-murder-1973--71753359
Content note: the podcast discusses child sexual abuse and includes ethnic slurs

Things mentioned:

George Orwell The Decline of the English murder (1946)  
R C Sherriff The Fortnight in September (1931)

There is a radio dramatisation of the story https://youtu.be/FS2jO7vCZeE?si=ADA3UGJmwKy8YmMM  
]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71753359Thu, 30 Apr 2026 07:49:31 +0000Martin LocockIn 1936, among the residents of the modest houses of Riverside Villas is 14 year old Peter Furneaux, obsessed by model aircraft, jazz and the mysterious world of sex.  Amis builds a murder mystery around an evocation of very particular time, place and...
Content note: the podcast discusses child sexual abuse and includes ethnic slurs

Things mentioned:

George Orwell The Decline of the English murder (1946)  
R C Sherriff The Fortnight in September (1931)

There is a radio dramatisation of the story https://youtu.be/FS2jO7vCZeE?si=ADA3UGJmwKy8YmMM  
]]>1893true213fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep34-s2ep12-girl-20-1971--71298624
Note on sound quality: heavy rain at times.
Note on content: includes a discussion of racial slurs

Links

Henri de Montherlant  The Girls translated by Terrence Kilmartin 

De Beauvoir and Montherlant 

More about The Girls 

Deep Purple Concerto for Group and Orchestra]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71298624Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:30:25 +0000Martin LocockA morality tale set in late 60s London, often praised as a satire of young people these days and their older cheerleaders, but in fact an exploration of Henri de Montherlant's philosophy of the self-sufficient man who only engages with romance as a...
Note on sound quality: heavy rain at times.
Note on content: includes a discussion of racial slurs

Links

Henri de Montherlant  The Girls translated by Terrence Kilmartin 

De Beauvoir and Montherlant 

More about The Girls 

Deep Purple Concerto for Group and Orchestra]]>2451true212fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep33-s2ep11-the-green-man-1969--70669771
Maurice Allington, alcoholic and adulterer, runs a country pub near Cambridge abounding in ghosts and the presence of the supernatural entity the Green Man.  In this discussion I highlight Amis's adoption of the M R James approach to writing about ghosts, the dubious antiquity of pub names and the 'green man' sculptural motif, and whether seeing ghosts would prove the existence of the afterlife.  Amis again tries to explain the appeal of womanising, while noting that some womanisers don't seem to like women at all. 

Amis writes perceptively about the impacts of alcoholism and infidelity, leading me to define the Kingsley syndrome: “the ability of a novelist to understand and depict the negative consequences of a character’s behaviour without leading to the novelist altering his own behaviour”   

The presence of a threesome in the plotline is perhaps surprising when two years earlier David Crobsy thought he was being young and radical in proposing one in 'Triad', confirming that every younger generation thinks they invented sex.

I also look at the TV adaptation by Maclolm Bradbury (author of The History Man)  which is perhaps less worthy of your time.  Part 1   Part 2   Part 3  


]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70669771Tue, 17 Mar 2026 12:45:42 +0000Martin LocockOne of Amis's best novels, worth reading, and worth reading unspoiled.  Maurice Allington, alcoholic and adulterer, runs a country pub near Cambridge abounding in ghosts and the presence of the supernatural entity the Green Man.  In this discussion I...
Maurice Allington, alcoholic and adulterer, runs a country pub near Cambridge abounding in ghosts and the presence of the supernatural entity the Green Man.  In this discussion I highlight Amis's adoption of the M R James approach to writing about ghosts, the dubious antiquity of pub names and the 'green man' sculptural motif, and whether seeing ghosts would prove the existence of the afterlife.  Amis again tries to explain the appeal of womanising, while noting that some womanisers don't seem to like women at all. 

Amis writes perceptively about the impacts of alcoholism and infidelity, leading me to define the Kingsley syndrome: “the ability of a novelist to understand and depict the negative consequences of a character’s behaviour without leading to the novelist altering his own behaviour”   

The presence of a threesome in the plotline is perhaps surprising when two years earlier David Crobsy thought he was being young and radical in proposing one in 'Triad', confirming that every younger generation thinks they invented sex.

I also look at the TV adaptation by Maclolm Bradbury (author of The History Man)  which is perhaps less worthy of your time.  Part 1   Part 2   Part 3  


]]>2548false211fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep32-s2ep10-i-want-it-now-1968--70072688
Content note: discussion of sexual assault

As a bonus (of sorts)  this episode includes a reading of my long short story, Change and Decay, which examines the murky ethics underlying an aristrocatic family.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70072688Sun, 15 Feb 2026 21:51:19 +0000Martin LocockAmis presents a fairy tale in which a Sleeping Beauty is saved by love, dressed up as a satire of the ultra rich and 1960s talk shows.  Ronnie Appleyard, ambitious and selfish, meets Simona Quick, listless heiress, and struggles to prise her away from...
Content note: discussion of sexual assault

As a bonus (of sorts)  this episode includes a reading of my long short story, Change and Decay, which examines the murky ethics underlying an aristrocatic family.]]>5785true210fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep31-s2ep9-colonel-sun-1968-and-the-james-bond-dossier-1965--69671340Colonel Sun, his continuation of the Fleming series, set in the Greek islands, and a critical review of Fleming's work as a whole.  I discuss whether the novel works as a Bond book (yes), whether Amis fans will find much of his usual pleasures (no)  (and on the way manage to get E M Forster's definition of story and plot confused, and examine the theory that Amis was choosing less personal projects at this time because of the turmoil of his private life).  The James Bond Dossier is more interesting, addressing head-on the criticisms levelled at Fleming's work as appealing to male reader's wish fulfilment and full of pornography and sadism, and Amis makes a good case that these are largely unfounded; he is on weaker ground arguing that what the critics really disliked was that Bond was presented as patriotic, uncomplicatedly pro-West and brave.  Amis also slyly uses his defence of genre writing to implicitly argue that popular literature deserved more respect than polite literature.

Sources mentioned

Dear Philip, Dear Kingsley- The Letters between Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin  (Radio play) 

Amis, Amis & Bond  Radio documentary]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69671340Sat, 31 Jan 2026 09:37:24 +0000Martin LocockThis episode looks at Amis's contributions to the James Bond literature - Colonel Sun, his continuation of the Fleming series, set in the Greek islands, and a critical review of Fleming's work as a whole.  I discuss whether the novel works as a Bond...Colonel Sun, his continuation of the Fleming series, set in the Greek islands, and a critical review of Fleming's work as a whole.  I discuss whether the novel works as a Bond book (yes), whether Amis fans will find much of his usual pleasures (no)  (and on the way manage to get E M Forster's definition of story and plot confused, and examine the theory that Amis was choosing less personal projects at this time because of the turmoil of his private life).  The James Bond Dossier is more interesting, addressing head-on the criticisms levelled at Fleming's work as appealing to male reader's wish fulfilment and full of pornography and sadism, and Amis makes a good case that these are largely unfounded; he is on weaker ground arguing that what the critics really disliked was that Bond was presented as patriotic, uncomplicatedly pro-West and brave.  Amis also slyly uses his defence of genre writing to implicitly argue that popular literature deserved more respect than polite literature.

Sources mentioned

Dear Philip, Dear Kingsley- The Letters between Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin  (Radio play) 

Amis, Amis & Bond  Radio documentary]]>2665true29fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep30-s2e8-the-anti-death-league-1966--69509792
References

R D Laing The Divided Self (1961)

John Robinson Honest to God (1963)

Dylan Thomas "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, By Fire, of a Child in London"

Father Ted "That would be an ecumenical matter"

Wee Gwen (British Tactical Nuclear weapon)]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69509792Tue, 20 Jan 2026 17:52:28 +0000Martin LocockA change in approach, with a sort-of thriller in the near future, following an experimental army unit preparing to use a secret and terrible weapon.  But much of the story is about love, and Amis abandons irony while exploring whether the existence of...
References

R D Laing The Divided Self (1961)

John Robinson Honest to God (1963)

Dylan Thomas "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, By Fire, of a Child in London"

Father Ted "That would be an ecumenical matter"

Wee Gwen (British Tactical Nuclear weapon)]]>2414false28fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep29-s2e7-the-egyptologists-1965--69394525
I discuss the co-author Robert Conquest, how the protagonists got stuck in unfulfilling marriages, whether womanisers like women as much as they claim to, the surprising availability of would-be mistresses, and what George Orwell reads into Donald McGill's seaside postcards.  

References

Robert Conquest: The Great Terror

The New Oxford Book of Light Verse (1978) edited by Kingsley Amis

George Orwell The art of Donald McGill

E Buckland The World of Donald McGill  

2006 interview with Hilly Kilmarnock]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69394525Mon, 12 Jan 2026 10:22:27 +0000Martin LocockWhat is the Metropolitan Egyptological Society and why does it discourage public and media enquiries? It is impossible to answer this question without spoilers so I've included a warning at the point where all is revealed.  I discuss the co-author...
I discuss the co-author Robert Conquest, how the protagonists got stuck in unfulfilling marriages, whether womanisers like women as much as they claim to, the surprising availability of would-be mistresses, and what George Orwell reads into Donald McGill's seaside postcards.  

References

Robert Conquest: The Great Terror

The New Oxford Book of Light Verse (1978) edited by Kingsley Amis

George Orwell The art of Donald McGill

E Buckland The World of Donald McGill  

2006 interview with Hilly Kilmarnock]]>1453true27fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep28-s2e6-one-fat-englishman-1963--69244491
Content note: quotations with the f word

Links

David Lodge review]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69244491Mon, 29 Dec 2025 21:51:14 +0000Martin LocockThe adventures, mainly amorous, of Roger Micheldene, soaked in sin, fat, rude, and angry, in suburban America, as he tries to persuade Helene Bangs to leave her husband for him.  Many readers mistake the target for the satire: it is Micheldene and the...
Content note: quotations with the f word

Links

David Lodge review]]>2812true26fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep27-s2e5-take-a-girl-like-you-1960--69084610Hot Or Not tells us about Pretty Privilege, what Amis means when a character says that they are too busy trying to not be a nasty man to worry about being a bad man, and similarities with the plot of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa.  

Content note: discussion of sexual assault and consent

References:

Song of the Wanderer by Harry James
Word Histories: Meaning and origin of 'to lead apes in hell'
Ernest Kuhl "Shakspere's "Lead Apes in Hell" and the Ballad of "The Maid and the Palmer" 
John Davies of Hereford "A Contention betwixt a wife, a widow and a maid"
Philip Larkin reads his poem "Lines on a young lady's photograph album"


Take a Girl Like You (1970 film)
Take a Girl Like You (2000 series) Part 1   Part 2  Part 3

]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69084610Wed, 17 Dec 2025 09:12:02 +0000Martin LocockKingsley Amis's longest, and some say his best, novel, recounts the tortuous relationship of innocent Jenny Bunn and lascivious Patrick Standish as they negotiate societal mores and personal boundaries in a pre-Pill world.  In this episode I explore...Hot Or Not tells us about Pretty Privilege, what Amis means when a character says that they are too busy trying to not be a nasty man to worry about being a bad man, and similarities with the plot of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa.  

Content note: discussion of sexual assault and consent

References:

Song of the Wanderer by Harry James
Word Histories: Meaning and origin of 'to lead apes in hell'
Ernest Kuhl "Shakspere's "Lead Apes in Hell" and the Ballad of "The Maid and the Palmer" 
John Davies of Hereford "A Contention betwixt a wife, a widow and a maid"
Philip Larkin reads his poem "Lines on a young lady's photograph album"


Take a Girl Like You (1970 film)
Take a Girl Like You (2000 series) Part 1   Part 2  Part 3

]]>3293true25fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep26-s2e4-i-like-it-here-1958--68839670Lucky Jim winning the Somerset Maugham first novel prize.  His satire is aimed at a style of writing that doesn't really exist any more, leaving the pleasures of the book fleeting and inconsequential.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68839670Tue, 02 Dec 2025 22:27:04 +0000Martin LocockAmis complains about going abroad and foreigners (and expats) while his main ire is aimed at the literature tradition of English writers imbuing Mediterranean cultures with a deep understanding inaccessible to those without the means to travel. ...Lucky Jim winning the Somerset Maugham first novel prize.  His satire is aimed at a style of writing that doesn't really exist any more, leaving the pleasures of the book fleeting and inconsequential.]]>2283false24fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep25-s2e3-that-uncertain-feeling-1956--68709699
Language note: I include a quote from the book that uses the term 'faggot'  - this isn't used as a gay slur.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68709699Sun, 23 Nov 2025 19:55:21 +0000Martin LocockThe tale of 'Unlucky John', trapped in an unsatisfying job and home life in Swansea, offered an escape route through an affair with a bored wife and her hard-partying friends.  In this episode I discuss the parallels with Amis's own life, whether...
Language note: I include a quote from the book that uses the term 'faggot'  - this isn't used as a gay slur.]]>2437false23fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep24-s2ep2-lucky-jim-1954--68542062 The Rachel Papers, and whether Amis’s view of universities and the value of research are consistent or well-founded.   

Content note: discussion of suicide 

Links

 Oh Lucky Jim! song

Angry Young Men

Newport medieval ship]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68542062Wed, 12 Nov 2025 18:35:38 +0000Martin LocockA detailed look at Kingsley Amis’s first published novel, covering the role of luck, whether as an Angry Young Man he wants systematic change or just a better place for himself, and the characteristic KA internal monologue reflecting moral ambiguity... The Rachel Papers, and whether Amis’s view of universities and the value of research are consistent or well-founded.   

Content note: discussion of suicide 

Links

 Oh Lucky Jim! song

Angry Young Men

Newport medieval ship]]>4326false22fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep23-s2e1-kingsley-amis-intro-and-biography--68340823Lucky Jim and The Old Devils), a discussion of his biography and political development, and the value of his work as a social history of the 50s-70s.

Books mentioned:

Zachary Leader  The Life of Kingsley Amis

The Letters of Kingsley Amis

]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68340823Wed, 29 Oct 2025 22:14:39 +0000Martin LocockMoving onto the work of Kingsley Amis, some recommendations on where to start (Lucky Jim and The Old Devils), a discussion of his biography and political development, and the value of his work as a social history of the 50s-70s. Books mentioned:...Lucky Jim and The Old Devils), a discussion of his biography and political development, and the value of his work as a social history of the 50s-70s.

Books mentioned:

Zachary Leader  The Life of Kingsley Amis

The Letters of Kingsley Amis

]]>1608false21fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep22-the-rub-of-time-2017-and-final-thoughts--68232253The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym . 

In this episode I also look back on the novels as whole, including a discussion of Shifts by Christopher Meredith and how its portrayal of working class characters compares with Amis, Amis's ways of ending his books, and the recurrent device of playing with the status of the text to create more distance between the author and the events portrayed, rejecting the model of Thackeray's Vanity Fair with its overt treatment of the characters and puppets.

And finally, having covered all of Martin's novels, I discuss what will happen next: moving onto Kingsley Amis's books.

Content note: brief refercnes to child sexual abuse and suicide]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68232253Tue, 21 Oct 2025 21:47:13 +0000Martin LocockMartin Amis's final collected journalism volume has its interesting moments, including a tempering of his love of Nabokov, doubts about Jeremy Corbyn, and thoughts on Larkin and Germany, which I contrast with Barbara Pym's as described in Paule...The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym . 

In this episode I also look back on the novels as whole, including a discussion of Shifts by Christopher Meredith and how its portrayal of working class characters compares with Amis, Amis's ways of ending his books, and the recurrent device of playing with the status of the text to create more distance between the author and the events portrayed, rejecting the model of Thackeray's Vanity Fair with its overt treatment of the characters and puppets.

And finally, having covered all of Martin's novels, I discuss what will happen next: moving onto Kingsley Amis's books.

Content note: brief refercnes to child sexual abuse and suicide]]>3685false22fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep21-inside-story-2020--67236256
I explore his advice to writers which seems to boil down to "don't write like me", and also reflect on his comments on his early novels, in particular The Rachel Papers,  which turns out to be much less fictional than it appeared.

Also mentioned are the Philip Larkin Society's podcast Tiny In All That Air,   The Martin Chronicles podcast, and My Martin Amis podcast.

]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67236256Sun, 03 Aug 2025 12:00:06 +0000Martin LocockWe reach Amis's last book, an exercise in autofiction that combines autobiography, a discussion of Philip Larkin's politics and love life, moving accounts of the deaths of Christopher Hitchens and Saul Bellow, and a fictitious years-long frustrating...
I explore his advice to writers which seems to boil down to "don't write like me", and also reflect on his comments on his early novels, in particular The Rachel Papers,  which turns out to be much less fictional than it appeared.

Also mentioned are the Philip Larkin Society's podcast Tiny In All That Air,   The Martin Chronicles podcast, and My Martin Amis podcast.

]]>4481truefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep20-the-zone-of-interest-2015--66680202
  Jenny Frazer The fictionalising of Auschwitz 

   The Tobolowsky Files episode 34: a good day in Auschwitz]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/66680202Sat, 21 Jun 2025 21:34:41 +0000Martin LocockAmis's contribution to the Careers Fair of Auschwitz stays mainly with the guards, exploring the lives and morals of those engaged in delivering the Final Solution.  I discuss why Shakespeare and Auden seem out of place, and Amis's view of the...
  Jenny Frazer The fictionalising of Auschwitz 

   The Tobolowsky Files episode 34: a good day in Auschwitz]]>2947falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep-19-lionel-asbo-2012--66294864Vile Bodies (1930), whether Mean Mr Mustard makes sense as an 80s nickname, and Lionel Blair's cultural footprint. Amis is groping towards a point about nature and nurture and whether it is possible to escape the criminal underclass, but this is thin gruel.

Also mentioned:  The Martin Chronicles podcast

]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/66294864Tue, 27 May 2025 16:02:57 +0000Martin LocockAnother attempt at a state-of-the-nation comic novel, but this time feeling detached, as if Amis is no longer up to date with British society. In this discussion I refer to "Who let the dogs out?" by the Baha Men, Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies (1930),...Vile Bodies (1930), whether Mean Mr Mustard makes sense as an 80s nickname, and Lionel Blair's cultural footprint. Amis is groping towards a point about nature and nurture and whether it is possible to escape the criminal underclass, but this is thin gruel.

Also mentioned:  The Martin Chronicles podcast

]]>3745falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep18-pregnant-widow-2010--65797449criticisms of the depiction of female characters, the slightly uncertain period detail, parallels to Adrian Mole, Lucky Jim and Jenny Bunn from Take a Girl Like You  (1960), and end by exploring whether Amis was right to complain about critics seeing it as autobiographical.
Content note: mentions of sexual assault]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/65797449Tue, 29 Apr 2025 20:52:47 +0000Martin LocockA long hot summer in Italy - it's 1970 and Keith Nearing is 20, working his way through the canon and thinking about sex with his companions.  A sprawling novel about the reconfiguration of social mores in the aftermath of the sexual revolution - not...criticisms of the depiction of female characters, the slightly uncertain period detail, parallels to Adrian Mole, Lucky Jim and Jenny Bunn from Take a Girl Like You  (1960), and end by exploring whether Amis was right to complain about critics seeing it as autobiographical.
Content note: mentions of sexual assault]]>4605true18fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep17-house-of-meetings-2006--65351220I mention Adam Curtis's Russia 1985-1999: Trauma Zone (available in the UK on BBC iPlayer) and Kingsley Amis's novel Jake's Thing as a book that is enjoyable to read.
I spend some time trying to tease out Amis's moral point, that a person, people or nation without conscience cannot survive, but am uneasy with its application to the narrator.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/65351220Fri, 04 Apr 2025 16:53:06 +0000Martin LocockAmis's short Russian novel takes us through history from Stalinism to Putin's failed state, while following a lifelong love triangle between two brothers and Zoya.  Content note: the book and the podcast include descriptions of sexual assault and...I mention Adam Curtis's Russia 1985-1999: Trauma Zone (available in the UK on BBC iPlayer) and Kingsley Amis's novel Jake's Thing as a book that is enjoyable to read.
I spend some time trying to tease out Amis's moral point, that a person, people or nation without conscience cannot survive, but am uneasy with its application to the narrator.]]>3854truefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep15a-heavy-water-1998--64038228
Mentioned in this episode:



Extract from 
Experience (2000)

Another review of the book 
Another review

Contemporary reviews 


Mason’s Life by Kingsley Amis]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/64038228Thu, 30 Jan 2025 12:03:23 +0000Martin LocockAmis's second short story collection is diverse in subject, style and antiquity - including  a science fiction story that reveals that Earth is unimportant and doomed, a fantasy where poets make big money film deals and screenwriters starve, and a...
Mentioned in this episode:



Extract from 
Experience (2000)

Another review of the book 
Another review

Contemporary reviews 


Mason’s Life by Kingsley Amis]]>2673truefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep16-yellow-dog-2003--64015377Tibor Fischer review 

Parts are aggressively unpleasant- the tedious brutality of old-style London gangsters, the extravagant cynicism and hypocrisy of the tabloid journalists, and the grimy business of the pornography industry, but looked at in the right light it is a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of masculinity in the late 20th century, arguing that we must outgrow our instincts to create a society for all.  

On the way I discuss 90s laddism and the prevalence of 'ironic' sexism, Humbert Wolfe's view of the British press Epigram to The Uncelestial City (1930) and whether the strength of the critical response was driven by Amis's shift in politics after 9/11.



]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/64015377Wed, 29 Jan 2025 22:32:46 +0000Martin LocockThe publication of Yellow Dog was greeted with dismay by the papers, writers and fans. "Embarrassingly bad" was the memorable description by novelist Tibor Fischer.  https://martinamisweb.com/pre_2006/tfischer.htm  Parts are aggressively unpleasant-...Tibor Fischer review 

Parts are aggressively unpleasant- the tedious brutality of old-style London gangsters, the extravagant cynicism and hypocrisy of the tabloid journalists, and the grimy business of the pornography industry, but looked at in the right light it is a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of masculinity in the late 20th century, arguing that we must outgrow our instincts to create a society for all.  

On the way I discuss 90s laddism and the prevalence of 'ironic' sexism, Humbert Wolfe's view of the British press Epigram to The Uncelestial City (1930) and whether the strength of the critical response was driven by Amis's shift in politics after 9/11.



]]>3925true16fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep14-film-out-of-blue-based-on-night-train--62786301noir, why it was filmed in 'Covid style' with empty rooms and few people, and why the viewer may find the ending unsatisfying.   Worth watching if you like the book; there is a spolier section at the end of the episode in case you plan to do so.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/62786301Mon, 18 Nov 2024 11:37:05 +0000Martin LocockCarol Morley's 2018 film adaptation of Night Train places the action in New Orleans.  The podcast discusses how the book's mystery has been altered to make it more of a conventional noir, why it was filmed in 'Covid style' with empty rooms and few...noir, why it was filmed in 'Covid style' with empty rooms and few people, and why the viewer may find the ending unsatisfying.   Worth watching if you like the book; there is a spolier section at the end of the episode in case you plan to do so.]]>1045falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep13-night-train-1997--62696915
Content note: discussion of suicide and child sexual abuse.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/62696915Mon, 11 Nov 2024 22:22:15 +0000Martin LocockWe jump across the Atlantic to a modern noir, with a disillusioned alcoholic cop investigating the death of her beautiful and successful friend.  A comic novel light on jokes, with an emphasis on the meaninglessness of existence and the impossibility...
Content note: discussion of suicide and child sexual abuse.]]>2294true13fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep12-the-information-1995--62388986https://api.spreaker.com/episode/62388986Wed, 16 Oct 2024 21:13:48 +0000Martin LocockWe reach the halfway point of Amis's fiction, a long meditation on the realities of the writer's life and the futility of revenge.  Some poetic allusions to Philip Larkin's The Trees and Wendy Cope's Tumps (typically useless male poets), and the...4366falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep11-time-s-arrow-1991--60940319
Diane LeBlond 2013 Etudes britanniques contemporaines “Martin Amis and ‘the
Nature of the Offence’: from Expressions of Outrage to the Experience of Scandal”

]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/60940319Tue, 06 Aug 2024 20:28:58 +0000Martin LocockAmis follows a Nazi doctor from his death as a respectable suburban physician in America back through New York to Portugal, Rome, and wartime Germany.  On the way we discover the strangeness of eating and relationships told backwards, the significance...
Diane LeBlond 2013 Etudes britanniques contemporaines “Martin Amis and ‘the
Nature of the Offence’: from Expressions of Outrage to the Experience of Scandal”

]]>2236falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep10-london-fields-1989--60699716
Looking at Amis' London novel, or his darts novel, or his millenial novel (in the end-of-the-world sense not the avocado-toast-and-can't-buy-a-house sense).  And the 2018 film based on it.  On the way I discuss the strange parochialism of the metropolitan writer, how many levels of unreliable narration are present, and whether Amis hates the working class or just happens to write about its worst examples.
I also mention:

• Roger Lewis    The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,

• Susie Thomas on class and gender   

• The Martin Chronicles podcast

]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/60699716Mon, 15 Jul 2024 20:37:51 +0000Martin LocockContent note: the novel raises issues of sexual violence, domestic violence, child abuse, child sexual exploitation and disordered eating. Looking at Amis' London novel, or his darts novel, or his millenial novel (in the end-of-the-world sense not...
Looking at Amis' London novel, or his darts novel, or his millenial novel (in the end-of-the-world sense not the avocado-toast-and-can't-buy-a-house sense).  And the 2018 film based on it.  On the way I discuss the strange parochialism of the metropolitan writer, how many levels of unreliable narration are present, and whether Amis hates the working class or just happens to write about its worst examples.
I also mention:

• Roger Lewis    The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,

• Susie Thomas on class and gender   

• The Martin Chronicles podcast

]]>4510true10fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep9-einstein-s-monsters-1987--60185283
There is a brief mention of schizophrenia and suicide.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/60185283Mon, 27 May 2024 09:18:11 +0000Martin LocockThis episode discusses Amis's first short story collection, loosely themed on nuclear war and its aftermath, and concludes that the stories are unsatisfying. On the way I discuss what Amis might learn from Scooby Doo about narrative, the art of the...
There is a brief mention of schizophrenia and suicide.]]>2145falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep8-money-1984--59727304
The podcast covers the novel's treatment of themes including suicide and physical and sexual violence.

BBC interview 1984 with dramatisation featuring Mel Smith as Self  

The Guardian 100 best novels: Money

Facebook page for the podcast]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/59727304Tue, 30 Apr 2024 11:03:59 +0000Martin LocockA detailed discussion of one of Amis's best books, exploring the strange appeal of John Self, what it is that the character Martin Amis takes from him as reward for winning a game of chess, and why Self's limited reading includes the obscure...
The podcast covers the novel's treatment of themes including suicide and physical and sexual violence.

BBC interview 1984 with dramatisation featuring Mel Smith as Self  

The Guardian 100 best novels: Money

Facebook page for the podcast]]>4874true8fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep7-film-saturn-3-1980--58935633
Something is wrong on Saturn 3 website

Industry Podcast episode on John Barry

We Hate Movies podcast episode 127: Blame It On Rio]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58935633Tue, 05 Mar 2024 19:54:38 +0000Martin LocockA look at the science fiction Garden of Eden/ Frankenstein/ mad robot film Saturn 3 for which Amis wrote a screenplay, although nothing in the finished script bears much evidence of his style. It's chief interest is as raw material for the novel...
Something is wrong on Saturn 3 website

Industry Podcast episode on John Barry

We Hate Movies podcast episode 127: Blame It On Rio]]>1269false7fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep6-films-rachel-papers-and-dead-babies--58578834Rachel papers (1989) and Dead Babies (Mood Swingers) (2000) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAJqCZQ2Yrs ,]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58578834Mon, 05 Feb 2024 19:52:46 +0000Martin LocockA look at some of the film versions of Amis's books as a prelude to Saturn 3: Rachel papers (1989) and Dead Babies (Mood Swingers) (2000)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAJqCZQ2Yrs ,Rachel papers (1989) and Dead Babies (Mood Swingers) (2000) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAJqCZQ2Yrs ,]]>682falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep5-other-people-1981--57870354

Facebook page

Books that matter review of Other People


"Narrative and Narrated Homicide in Martin Amis's Other People and London Fields," from Critique 37 (1995). By Brian Finney, California State University, Long Beach.

In Camera (No Exit) 1964


Craig Raine “A Martian sends a postcard home”


Allusions to Larkin in Amis’s work

]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57870354Thu, 30 Nov 2023 22:08:57 +0000Martin LocockIs Other People more of a mystery than the author intended? I present the evidence that Mary is dead, is in hell, or is in a life loop with a chance of redemption. Plus Amis's further thoughts on literature and life, and the emergence of the mature...

Facebook page

Books that matter review of Other People


"Narrative and Narrated Homicide in Martin Amis's Other People and London Fields," from Critique 37 (1995). By Brian Finney, California State University, Long Beach.

In Camera (No Exit) 1964


Craig Raine “A Martian sends a postcard home”


Allusions to Larkin in Amis’s work

]]>3306true5fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep4-success-1978--57620361
Links are made to the world of work as described in Joseph Heller Something Happened , and textual parallels to TS Eliot The Wasteland and Philip Larkin ‘Going’, ‘High Windows’, and ‘This be the Verse’.

https://www.facebook.com/AmisPapers

https://martinamisweb.com/discussion.shtml

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/an-amis-who-lives-in-his-own-world-1620442.html

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-age-of-acceleration-an-interview-with-martin-amis/

https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/martin-amis-how-the-sexual-revolution-helped-destroy-my-sister-sally-6790757.html]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57620361Mon, 13 Nov 2023 16:44:44 +0000Martin LocockThis episode discussed Success, a tale of two brothers and sister trying to adapt to the adult world, by way of unreliable narration, urban landscapes, childhood trauma and attempted hedonism. Links are made to the world of work as described in...
Links are made to the world of work as described in Joseph Heller Something Happened , and textual parallels to TS Eliot The Wasteland and Philip Larkin ‘Going’, ‘High Windows’, and ‘This be the Verse’.

https://www.facebook.com/AmisPapers

https://martinamisweb.com/discussion.shtml

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/an-amis-who-lives-in-his-own-world-1620442.html

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-age-of-acceleration-an-interview-with-martin-amis/

https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/martin-amis-how-the-sexual-revolution-helped-destroy-my-sister-sally-6790757.html]]>3039true4fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep3-dead-babies-1975--57401711https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57401711Thu, 26 Oct 2023 22:04:55 +0000Martin LocockThis episode explores Amis' second novel Dead Babies, an account of a drug- and sex-fuelled weekend at an Oxfordshire rectory which conceals a serious moral purpose. The podcast considers what the title means, why Quentin's reading helps explain the...3652truefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep2-the-rachel-papers-1973--56662365https://api.spreaker.com/episode/56662365Fri, 01 Sep 2023 17:36:26 +0000Martin LocockThis episode looks at The Rachel Papers (1973) and explores what Charles Highway's tragic flaw is, what the Rachel papers are, and why Charles admires Norman so much. Contains some explicit language from the book.3629truefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep1-introduction-to-martin-amis--56577976https://api.spreaker.com/episode/56577976Thu, 24 Aug 2023 14:13:18 +0000Martin LocockThis episode provides some context: a brief biography of Amis, my experience as a fan since the 1980s seeing his reputation rise and fall, and a reader's guide for those new to his work suggesting which to read first and which to avoid.2749falsefull