by Martin Amis
First published 2020
Martin Amis sits with the weight of loss after Christopher Hitchens dies. His grief becomes the starting point for an examination of his own life as both man and writer. He revisits the people who shaped him: his father Kingsley Amis, literary hero Saul Bellow, poets Philip Larkin, novelist Iris Murdoch, and Elizabeth Jane Howard. Most vividly, he recalls Phoebe Phelps, the morally ambiguous woman who consumed his twenties with romantic complications. What starts as memories of love affairs and family bonds deepens into larger questions about existence itself. Amis wrestles with how to live meaningfully, process grief, and face mortality. His reflections expand to encompass the century's great tragedies and the lasting wounds of September 11th. Through it all, he searches for what these experiences have taught him about the writer's craft and responsibility. The novel becomes both confession and meditation, mixing exuberance with sorrow as Amis celebrates life while acknowledging its fragility.
Genres: literary-fiction, autobiography, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: confession-meditation, reflection
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
ebook · Vintage Digital