Martin Amis

Martin Amis (1949-2023) was an English novelist, essayist, and memoirist known for his darkly humorous depictions of life in late 20th-century Britain. The son of renowned author Kingsley Amis (1922-1995), Amis has been publishing novels and nonfiction works since the 1970s. His works often explore themes such as social class, politics, and popular culture. One of his most well-known novels is Money (1984), a satirical take on the excesses of the 1980s that is widely considered one of the best novels of the 20th century.

Other notable works include London Fields (1989) and Time's Arrow (1991), the latter of which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Martin Amis: Biography

Martin Amis was born in Oxford, England, on August 25, 1949. Son of renowned English author Kingsley Amis (1922-1995), Amis was raised in a comfortable middle-class family. When Kingsley's book Lucky Jim (1954) became an international hit, the family briefly relocated to New Jersey while Kingsley taught at Princeton University.

Amis struggled at school and had no interest in literature, reading only comic books. After his parents' divorce, Amis' father remarried the novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard (1923-2014). Howard encouraged Amis to read the classic novels of Jane Austen (1775-1817). This early exposure sparked Amis' love of literature, and he began to think about following in his father's footsteps.

Fig. 1 - Reading Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813) had a transformative effect on Amis.

After graduating from Oxford University with a first-class degree in English, Amis interned at The London Times. His reviews and think pieces for the paper's literary supplement earned him a position at The New Statesman magazine. At the age of 27, he became the magazine's literary editor.

Early Novels

His first novel, The Rachel Papers (1973), is a semi-autobiographical tale of an awkward but intelligent adolescent's first love. The book was a hit and earned Amis the Somerset Maugham Award. He followed this success with Dead Babies (1975) and Success (1977). Both novels were darkly humorous and featured unlikable characters; these would later become characteristics of Amis' writing.

In 1980, Amis wrote the screenplay for the sci-fi movie Saturn 3 and used his experience with the film industry as the basis for his next novel, Money: A Suicide Note (1984). A twisted satire on the money-obsessed culture of the 1980s, Amis uses the book to comment on the emptiness of consumerism and capitalism.

Fig. 2 - John Self, the protagonist of Money, is the embodiment of 1980s greed and excess.

Amis ventured into nonfiction with a collection of essays about his experience of American culture entitled The Moronic Inferno and Other Visits to America (1986). His first collection of short stories, "Einstein's Monsters" (1987), deals with the threat of nuclear warfare and contains "The Immortals," his most popular short story.

Success

In 1989, Amis' cemented his reputation as one of Britain's leading literary voices with London Fields. A murder mystery set at the end of the millennium, the work deals with themes of capitalism and alienation in his home city. He followed this success with Time's Arrow (1991). The highly experimental novel details the life of a German doctor who carried out cruel experiences during the Holocaust. The book is notable for Amis's use of reverse narrative as he unfolds the doctor's life backward. Time's Arrow received high praise from critics and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Fig. 3 - Amis' hometown of London is the setting for many of his works.

After Money and London Fields, Amis closed his "London Trilogy" with The Information in 1995. The book saw Amis reflect on his writing success and the challenges of middle age. Before the book was published, Amis provoked controversy by demanding a massive advance fee.

Later Career

The 2000s saw Amis mature as a writer with his memoirs, Experience (2000), detailing the author's strained relationship with his father. The book was lauded for its candid honesty and humor. Throughout the decade, Amis dabbled in historical fiction and continued to publish essays on politics and culture. He remained a well-known public intellectual, appearing on television and continuing to court controversy with his outspoken opinions.

From 2007 to 2011, Amis taught creative writing at the University of Manchester and hosted several public discussions on various social issues. In 2010, he moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he continues to write.

Martin Amis, a lifelong smoker, passed away on the 19th May 2023 in Florida from oesophageal cancer.

Martin Amis: Books

Since emerging into the literary scene in the 1970s, Martin Amis has published over 40 books, including 20 novels, essay collections, and volumes of poetry. Here is a look at his most popular novels.

The London Trilogy: Money: A Suicide Note (1984), London Fields (1989), and The Information (1995)

A trio of stories connected by setting, the London Trilogy contains Amis' most popular works. The collection begins with Money: A Suicide Note, a biting satire on the money-obsessed 1980s. John Self is a gluttonous London ad director who's given the chance to direct an American movie. Amis uses dark humor to explore the empty commercialism of American culture and greed.

London Fields is a murder mystery novel that subverts many of the genre's tropes. It's 1999, and with the new millennium approaching, everyday life in London grinds on under the threat of a nuclear and environmental apocalypse. The novel's narrator is an American writer living in London and trying to come to terms with his approaching death. He becomes embroiled with a small-time gangster and soon finds himself implicated in the murder of a beautiful woman. Amis uses the novel to explore themes of sex and aging.

In the trilogy's final entry, Amis draws from his own experience in the publishing business to create a story of jealousy and revenge. The Information follows failed author Richard Tull as he closes in on middle age and grows increasingly jealous of his friend's success. Tull begins to plot his friend's downfall and becomes consumed by the quest for fame and revenge. Amis employs his trademark dark humor to deal with midlife crises and mortality.

Time's Arrow (1991)

Time's Arrow tells the life story of Odilo Unverdorben, a German doctor who conducted a series of inhumane experiments Nazi concentration camps. The events of Unverdorben's life unfold backward, starting with his death and tracing back to birth. Through the narrative, the doctor's horrific actions are reversed; instead of a torturer, he becomes a healer.

One of Amis' most ambitious and critically acclaimed books, Time's Arrow, is the author's reflection on the nature of time and morality.

Martin Amis: Writing Style

Martin Amis's writing style is characterized by his satirical wit, creative wordplay, and unique narrative structures. His novels often feature an intricate blend of comedy and tragedy, as well as an incisive critique of the excess of life in late 20th-century Britain. His characters are frequently flawed and morally ambiguous, adding to the complexity of his novels.

Amis is also known for his innovative use of language, employing a rich and expressive vocabulary, a wide range of narrative techniques, and a uniquely rhythmic prose style. His work is often seen as pushing the boundaries of the English language and the conventions of novel writing.

Satire and Humor

In his autobiographical novel Inside Story (2020), Amis states, "Writers are funny because life is funny." ² Though his outlook is often mistaken for pessimism and cynicism, Amis actually uses dark humor to highlight life's absurdities. His protagonists are sometimes unsympathetic antiheroes who Amis subjects to humorous misfortunes for the reader's pleasure. Amis often creates comedy by showing the distance between the character's thoughts and actions.

The writer uses his unlikeable characters to satirize the institutions and the culture of modern Britain. In Money, John Self represents the greed and consumerism of the 1980s. At the same time, Amis does not spare himself from criticism. The narrator of London Fields is a writer like Amis but is presented as unreliable and untrustworthy. He satirizes his experience with the cutthroat literary business in The Information. Amis even uses humor in his memoirs to discuss his complicated relationship with his father. Like his father, Kingsley, Amis frequently uses obscenities to shock his reader's sensibilities.

Postmodernism

Martin Amis' employs many postmodernist techniques in his writing. In Time's Arrow, he rejects standard narrative structure to tell a life story in reverse. He often uses unreliable narrators and experiments with form. Thematically, many of his works deal with characters who feel detached and alienated from the shallowness of contemporary life and culture. Like many postmodernists, Amis' writing has a cynical tone and is skeptical of significant institutions.

As a writer, Amis often draws attention to the fictional nature of his works. In Money, he inserts himself as a character to blur the line between fiction and reality. By doing this, Amis is able to explore and challenge the relationship between writer and reader. Many of Amis' protagonists have served as literary stand-ins at various points in his life, from the angry young man of The Rachel Papers to the writer suffering a midlife crisis in The Information.

Martin Amis: Themes

Much of Amis' work contains sharp social commentary on life in late 20th-century Britain, mainly focusing on the changing nature of London. The main themes in Amis's work includes capitalism and masculinity.

Capitalism

Amis is highly critical of the greed and self-obsession generated by modern capitalism. The author often explores the social implications of consumerism and uses junk food and pornography as symbols of decay. His protagonists are often shown consuming everyday goods and services but are left feeling unfulfilled. Many of his characters are willing to break the law to make money and see wealth as a way to escape their boring lives. Ultimately, Amis usually presents this obsession with money as a degrading and destructive force in the lives of his characters.

Masculinity

Most Amis' protagonists are men struggling with masculinity's limitations, often expressed by their need for sexual conquest. They are driven by sexual urges but lack the emotional skills to develop long-term relationships with women, which leads to frustration and self-loathing.

Amis' men are often examples of British "bloke" culture—hard-drinking, working-class men who are politically conservative and resistant to change. They commit acts of violence to assert their masculinity. Amis employs these caricatures to comment on modern masculinity, but his depictions have drawn criticism from feminists. Similarly, Amis has been criticized for creating female characters who are flat and unrealistic.

Martin Amis: Quotes

Martin Amis's prose is noted for the writer's dark and sometimes twisted sense of humor. He often uses a cynical tone to critique modern life. Here is a look at some of his key quotes.

Amis's leads are often reflections of the writer himself—bitter cynics who've seen it all. He employs an acidic tone to find the humor in the frustrations of everyday life.

The humor in Amis' work is not solely used to complain; he often uses his punchy prose to reveal deep insights into living. Though he likes to explore the dark side of human nature, Amis also shows that in the face of life's struggles, people should retain a sense of humor.

¹ Sam Leith, "Why we love to hate Martin Amis," The Guardian, 2014.

² Martin Amis, Inside Story: A Novel, 2020.