Current:Home > NewsMartin Amis, British author of era-defining novels, dies at 73 -MacroWatch
Martin Amis, British author of era-defining novels, dies at 73
View
Date:2025-04-16 22:38:21
Influential British author Martin Amis has died at his home in Lake Worth, Fla., of esophageal cancer. He was 73.
His agent, Andrew Wiley, and his publisher, Vintage Books, confirmed his death on Saturday.
"It's hard to imagine a world without Martin Amis in it," said his U.K. editor Michal Shavit, in a statement shared with NPR. "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. He will be remembered as one of the greatest writers of his time and his books will stand the test of time alongside some of his favourite writers: Saul Bellow, John Updike, and Vladimir Nabokov."
Over a career spanning more than 40 years, Amis became one of the world's leading literary celebrities, known best for novels including Money, The Information and London Fields that came to define British life in the late 20th century. He published 15 novels as well as a memoir, short stories, screenplays and works of nonfiction.
Many of his titles, including the debut novel he wrote while working as an editorial assistant at The Times Literary Supplement, 1973's The Rachel Papers, were adapted for the screen. The film version of his 2014 novel The Zone of Interest premiered only Friday at the Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews.
The film tells the story of a senior Nazi military officer's family who live next door to Auschwitz.
"Martin Amis's work was as singular as his voice — that wicked intelligence, the darkest of humor, and such glorious prose," said Oscar Villalon, editor of the literary journal ZYZZYVA and former San Francisco Chronicle books editor. "But it was how he scoped the corruption of contemporary life — indeed, how he unpacked the evil of the 20th century — that gives his work an urgency that will remain potent."
In a 2012 interview with NPR's Weekend Edition, Amis shared his discomfort with being famous.
"I don't see the glory of fame," Amis told host Linda Wertheimer. "And I can't imagine why people covet it."
In his later years, Amis sparked controversy for his views. He was accused of Islamophobia over comments in an interview. He advocated for euthanasia booths as a way to handle the U.K.'s aging population.
The son of another renowned British novelist, Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis was born in 1949 in Oxford, England and attended schools in the U.K., Spain and the U.S. before graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English literature.
The British literary establishment often compared the father with the son, much to the son's consternation. In a 2000 interview with NPR's Morning Edition, Amis said his father, who rocketed to fame in the 1950s with his novel Lucky Jim, discouraged him from pursuing a literary career and wasn't a fan of his "modernist" writing style.
"He didn't like prose, period. He was a poet as well as a novelist, and poetry was actually his passion," Amis told Renée Montagne. "And he hated it if I did any kind of modernist tricks, like unreliable narrators. Anything of that kind would have him hurling the books of the air."
veryGood! (5929)
Related
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Love Actually's Martine McCutcheon Reveals Husband Broke Up With Her After 18 Years Together
- Jennifer Lopez Requests to Change Her Last Name Amid Ben Affleck Divorce
- Michigan girl, 14, and 17-year-old boyfriend charged as adults in plot to kill her mother
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- Georgia man who accused NBA star Dwight Howard of sexual assault drops suit
- Tennis Star Aryna Sabalenka Details Mental Health Struggles After Ex Konstantin Koltsov's Death
- Man with a bloody head arrested after refusing to exit a plane at Miami airport, police say
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Andrew Tate placed under house arrest as new human trafficking allegations emerge involving minors
Ranking
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- Taylor Swift, her ex Taylor Lautner and an unlikely, eye-catching friendship
- Honoring Malcolm X: supporters see $20M as ‘down payment’ on struggle to celebrate Omaha native
- The Latest: Kamala Harris will accept her party’s nomination on final night of DNC
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- RHOC Trailer: Shannon Beador Loses Her S--t After Ex John Janssen Crashes a Party
- Wall Street’s next big test is looming with Nvidia’s profit report
- Workers at Canadian National Railway Co. will start returning to work Friday, union says
Recommendation
US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
5-year-old Utah boy dies from accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound
Meryl Streep and Martin Short Hold Hands at Premiere Party After Shutting Down Dating Rumors
Tyler Cameron Debuts Shocking Hair Transformation—And Fans Are Not Accepting This Change
What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
National Public Data confirms massive data breach included Social Security numbers
Zoë Kravitz is 'much closer' to Channing Tatum after directing 'Blink Twice'
FDA approves updated COVID-19 vaccines, shots should be available in days