The Life of Kingsley Amis

Starred review from February 12, 2007
Leader delivers a scrupulously researched and unfailingly entertaining account of the life of one of postwar Britain's funniest and most famous writers. Amis (1922–1995) asserted that many writers lead dull lives, but his was especially high-spirited, particularly once he left his restrictive parents for Oxford and beyond. Known first as a poet, Amis began an academic career in Wales at University College of Swansea after marrying Hilary Bardwell (mother of his three children, including contemporary British writer Martin Amis), but his springboard to literary celebrity was the 1954 publication of the comic classic Lucky Jim
. Leader (editor, 2001's The Letters of Kingsley Amis
) combines exhaustive biographical detail with trenchant literary analysis for a complex, remarkable portrait of Amis and his work: his prodigious output (more than 40 books, including novels, poetry, anthologies and nonfiction), his notorious womanizing and boozing as well as his friendships, including his central relationship (illuminated by lively excerpts of correspondence) with poet Philip Larkin. This massive, splendid biography bears out Leader's contention that Amis was "a compelling person, a man of alarming appetites and energies, the funniest man most people had ever met, or the cleverest, or the rudest." 24 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW
.

April 15, 2007
Leader's (English, Univ. of Roehampton, U.K.; editor, "The Letters of Kingsley Amis") biography of novelist, poet, essayist, and journalist Kingsley Amis (192295) was authorized by the subject's son, Martin Amis, an acclaimed novelist in his own right. It considerably expands on Eric Jacobs's "Kingsley Amis" (1995), which was authorized by the writer himself. Leader examines chronologically the life and works of this major British novelist, emphasizing how Amis incorporated episodes from his life and aspects of his family and friends' personalities into his writing. Amis lived his life with gusto, and Leader details the author's excesses in regard to alcohol and sex. The biographer shows his appreciation of the writer's achievements and outsized personality, but he does not hesitate to show Amis's less admirable traits, reflected in the racist and sexist quotes he enunciated throughout his life (though these may have been part of the curmudgeon persona Amis assumed before friends and strangers). Its long length may deter casual readers, but this is an essential biography for Amis admirers. For larger academic and public libraries. (Photographs, notes, bibliography, and index not seen.)Morris Hounion, New York City Coll. of Technology Lib., CUNY

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2007
This is one big, fat, and fascinating biography of Kingsley Amis. The author of Lucky Jim and a host of similarly wicked and bright comic novels, Amis enjoyed a productive, flamboyant career as a novelist, poet, critic, teacher, and gadflya career that stretched from the 1940s to his death in 1995at the same time pursuing a private life of serious sexual adventurism. Leader offers a candid, extraordinarily detailed look at both sides of Amis life, fairly and fully assessing his subjects personal foibles while giving more-than-adequate attention to his considerable literary gifts and accomplishments. At more than 1,000 pages, the book will strike some readers as more information than anyone other than Amis most passionate admirers will need, but even those who dont read every word will be riveted by the twists and turns of Amis wild ride through life, and by Leaders deft way of connecting the life to the work.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)