Kingsley Amis


Kingsley Amis

BornKingsley William Amis
(1922-04-16)16 April 1922
Clapham, London, England
Died22 October 1995(1995-10-22) (aged 73)
London, England
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • poet
  • critic
  • teacher
Alma materSt John's College, Oxford
Period1947–1995
GenreFiction, fictional prose
Literary movementAngry young men
Spouse
  • (m. 1948; div. 1965)
  • (m. 1965; div. 1983)
ChildrenPhilip Amis
Martin Amis
Sally Amis

Sir Kingsley William Amis CBE (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social and literary criticism. He is best known for satirical comedies such as Lucky Jim (1954), One Fat Englishman (1963), Ending Up (1974), Jake's Thing (1978) and The Old Devils (1986).[1]

His biographer Zachary Leader called Amis "the finest English comic novelist of the second half of the twentieth century." In 2008, The Times ranked him ninth on a list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.[2] He was the father of the novelist Martin Amis.

  1. ^ Norwich, John Julius (1990). Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Arts. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0198691372.
  2. ^ "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 26 September 2020.