‘Rock star’ of literature dies aged 73
THE era-defining British novelist and critic Martin Amis, who has died aged 73 of cancer, was described as the “Mick Jagger of fiction” last night as the literary establishment paid tribute to his five-decade career.
Cigarette dangling louchely from his lips, often pictured with a drink in hand, Amis was the rock-star writer of the 1980s.
His later books might have struggled to sell as well as hits like Money or London Fields, yet he remained hugely influential.
The son of novelist Sir Kingsley Amis, he wrote 15 novels, as well as many essays and non-fiction collections. His acclaimed 2000 memoir, Experience, in part dealt with the
‘He was the king... every time he published a book it was an event’
murder of his cousin Lucy Partington by the serial killer FredWest.
He once said of his trade: “To me it seems like a part-time job, really, in that writing from 11am to 1pm continuously is a very good day’s work. Then you can read and play tennis or snooker. Two hours. I think most writers would be very happy with two hours of concentrated work.”
The writer and critic Geoff Dyer put it simply last night: “Amis was Mick Jagger in literary form.”
His UK editor, Michal Shavit, said: “He was the king – a stylist extraordinaire, super cool, a brilliantly witty, erudite and fearless writer, and a truly wonderful man. He has been so important and formative for so many readers and writers over the last half century. Every time he published a new book it was an event.”
Amis, who had five children, died of cancer of the oesophagus – the disease that claimed the life of his close friend and fellow writer Christopher Hitchens in 2011 – on Friday at his home in Florida.
His publisher, Vintage, said in a statement: “For 40 years he bestrode the world of UK publishing. First by defining what it meant to be a literary wunderkind by releasing his first novel at just 24, influencing a generation of prose stylists, and often summing up entire eras with his books, perhaps most notably with his classic novel, Money.”
Inimitable
Born in Oxford in 1949, he was the son of the late Booker Prize-winning writer Kingsley Amis, who also died aged 73 in 1995, and Hilary Ann Bardwell.
He was educated at schools in the UK, Spain and the US, graduating from Exeter College at Oxford University where he read English.
In 1973, aged 24, he published his debut novel,The Rachel Papers, while working as an editorial assistant at the Times Literary Supplement. He joined the New Statesman as their literary editor aged 27 but left after two years to pursue writing full-time.
He soon became a leading voice among a generation of writers that included Hitchens, Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie. The latter wrote yesterday: “He used to say that what he wanted to do was leave behind a shelf of books — to be able to say, ‘From here to here, it’s me.’ His voice is silent now. His friends will miss him terribly. But we have the shelf.”
The novelist William Boyd, who first met Amis aged 17, said: “Martin was inimitable as a writer – though many people tried to imitate him, of course. That is his great legacy to literature and our great loss.”
Former PM Boris Johnson tweeted that he was “shocked and sad”, describing Amis as “the greatest, darkest, funniest satirist since Evelyn Waugh”. He added: “If you want cheering up, re-read the tennis match in Money.”
Amis is survived by his wife, writer Isabel Fonseca, and his children Louis, Jacob, Fernanda, Clio and Delilah.
NOT many writers enjoy a career that lasts half a century. But Martin Amis was not cut from the usual cloth.The novelist and essayist, who has died 50 years after the publication of his electrifying coming-of-age debut The Rachel Papers, led the charge in reclaiming from the US important books that got people talking.
One of the biggest literary names of the last century, his sales may have dipped in recent years but his relevance never faded.
Erudite, funny and with a brilliant originality of language, his passing sees the loss of a unique voice in fiction and journalism.