Martin Amis remembered: Legend who was prepared to look at the sordid aspect of his period

Martin Amis was very a lot a legend in his personal lifetime.

Novels like Money and London Fields regarded on the seamy aspect of London within the Cool Britannia period. He was a giant fan of snooker. He had an alter ego who ate quick meals and misbehaved in varied methods.

He summed up that interval during which he lived so very nicely, of getting over the infant growth, of Britain rediscovering itself as maybe not as essential because it had been, however actually as a rustic very pleased with its literary heritage.

And in fact one has to do not forget that Martin Amis was additionally a substantial critic in his personal proper.

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British novelist Martin Amis dies aged 73

It needs to be mentioned, within the final decade or so, as he bought more and more concerned in writing about twentieth century historical past, he hasn’t maybe had the identical acclaim as these of his era like Salman Rushdie or Ian McEwan.

But they have been very a lot a gang collectively, and naturally with the late Christopher Hitchens as nicely, Martin Amis’s closest buddy.

And it is an irony certainly that he has now died of oesophageal most cancers like Christopher. They have been each extraordinarily heavy people who smoke.

Indeed, I keep in mind touring with Martin Amis within the press pack once we have been protecting the tip of Tony Blair’s premiership, on one event we had to enter the chancellor’s workplace in Germany in Berlin, the place no smoking was allowed. And Martin Amis bought so determined that he was seen consuming his cigarettes.

He was also called man about city, along with his velvet jackets. He was very acutely aware of being brief and had an alter ego Little Keith, which was a parody of himself.

My favorite novel is his first one, The Rachel Papers, which is at all times mentioned to be very autobiographical, about his adolescence, getting girlfriends – as many girlfriends as potential.

What I appreciated about it’s whereas it was brilliantly written and intensely humorous, it additionally had an excessive amount of compassion.

He was a really self-aware particular person, at all times prepared to criticise and study his personal motivation, and maybe his personal lesser motives in addition to to reward himself.