Martin Amis, romancier, essayiste et nouvelliste anglais, explore avec maestria l'absurdité de la condition postmoderne, en présentant ses caricatures grotesques avec une clarté saisissante. Son style distinctif se caractérise par une vivacité compulsive, témoignage de sa profonde maîtrise de la langue anglaise qui annonce immédiatement sa voix unique. Souvent perçu comme un chroniqueur de la vie contemporaine, Amis a été reconnu pour sa représentation sans fard de ce qui a été qualifié de « nouvelle désagréable ». Son écriture offre un examen aiguisé, souvent troublant, mais toujours captivant de l'existence moderne.
Fin des années soixante : Charles Highway, à la veille de ses vingt ans, décide de rompre avec son passé d'adolescent et de célébrer son entrée dans l'âge adulte, en même temps que son admission à Oxford. De sept heures à minuit, il va classer papiers, journaux intimes, écrits et lettres, et surtout boucler le Dossier Rachel, récit d'une initiation sexuelle et amoureuse - et de la naissance d'un écrivain ? Le premier roman, brillant et drôle, de l'auteur de D'autres gens, La Flèche du Temps et L'Information.
Xan Meo, fils de gangster devenu acteur et romancier raffiné, se fait violemment agresser et subit une étrange métamorphose... Le roi Henry IX tente d'étouffer un double scandale : sa liaison avec une mystérieuse Chinoise, et une vidéo scabreuse où apparaît l'héritière du trône... Clint Smoker, journaliste à scandale, a des raisons bien personnelles d'aller en Californie interviewer une reine du porno... Et pendant ce temps, le vol 101, réservé aux fumeurs, arrivera-t-il à destination ? En entrecroisant ces histoires, Martin Amis livre une charge féroce contre une Angleterre à peine imaginaire, de Buckingham Palace au Londres de la pègre. Moraliste sans concession, satiriste impitoyable, il prouve surtout une fois de plus sa puissance visionnaire et sa capacité à réinventer la langue en offrant un feu d'artifice stylistique qui brasse tous les parlers. Et ce livre monstre, l'un de ses plus aboutis, résume notre temps comme peu d'œuvres savent le faire.
The book features a fresh introduction by Claire Lowdon, providing contemporary insights and context. It explores themes that resonate with today's readers, enhancing the understanding of the original work. The introduction sets the stage for a deeper appreciation of the narrative and its characters, making it accessible for both new and returning audiences.
Set in the summer of 1970 in an Italian castle, the story explores the lives of young people navigating the sexual revolution. The girls defy traditional roles, while the boys remain unchanged, and Keith Nearing attempts to manipulate feminism for his own purposes.
Shortlisted for the 2015 Walter Scott Prize 'Surely his masterpieceâe¦ Intelligent, terrifying and comicâe¦ Amis has tackled the biggest questions with imagination and intelligence, and the ultimate strength of this masterly novel is that he knows, and shows, that although there is no answer to the questions Auschwitz poses, we must never stop asking them. Read it, ponder it âe" revel in it indeed âe" then read it again.' Allan Massie, Scotsman There was an old story about a king who asked his favourite wizard to create a magic mirror. This mirror didnâe(tm)t show you your reflection. Instead, it showed you your soul âe" it showed you who you really were. But the king couldnâe(tm)t look into the mirror without turning away, and nor could his courtiers. No one could. What happens when we discover who we really are? And how do we come to terms with it? Fearless and original, The Zone of Interest is a violently dark love story set against a backdrop of unadulterated evil, and a vivid journey into the depths and contradictions of the human soul.
This extraordinary novel gives the reader the heart-to-heart testimony of one of our finest writers - a wonder of literary invention and a boisterous modern classic His most intimate and epic work to date, Inside Story is the unseen portrait of Martin Amis' extraordinary life, as a man and a writer. This novel had its birth in a death - that of the author's closest friend, Christopher Hitchens. We also encounter the vibrant characters who have helped define Martin Amis, from his father Kingsley, to his hero Saul Bellow, from Philip Larkin to Iris Murdoch and Elizabeth Jane Howard, and to the person who captivated his twenties, the alluringly amoral Phoebe Phelps. What begins as a thrilling tale of romantic entanglements, family and friendship, evolves into a tender, witty exploration of the hardest questions- how to live, how to grieve, and how to die? In his search for answers, Amis surveys the great horrors of the twentieth century, and the still unfolding impact of the 9/11 attacks on the twenty-first - and what all this has taught him about how to be a writer. The result is one of Amis' greatest achievements- a love letter to life that is at once exuberant, meditative, heartbreaking and ebullient, to be savoured and cherished for many years to come.
"The Rub of Time" showcases Martin Amis's exceptional talent in non-fiction, featuring critical essays on literary icons like Nabokov and Bellow, along with humorous reflections on topics such as sports and politics. It includes pieces on Princess Diana and a tribute to Christopher Hitchens, with a focus on the 2012 and 2016 American elections.
The son of the comic novelist Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis explores his relationship with this father and writes about the various crises of Kingsley's life. He also examines the life and legacy of his cousin, Lucy Partington, who was abducted and murdered by one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers. Experience also deconstructs the changing literary scene, including Amis' portraits of Saul Bellow, Salman Rushdie, Allan Bloom, Philip Larkin, and Robert Graves, among others.
Addresses itself to the central lacuna of twentieth century thought: the
indulgence of communism by intellectuals of the West. In between the personal
beginning and the personal ending, this work gives us information about
Stalin: Koba the Dread, losif the Terrible.
In Time's Arrow the doctor Tod T. Friendly dies and then feels markedly better, breaks up with his lovers as a prelude to seducing them, and mangles his patients before he sends them home. And all the while Tod's life races backward in time toward the one appalling moment in modern history when such reversals make sense.
