The Amis Papers: A Martin Amis podcast

06/08/2024

Amis follows a N**i doctor from his death as a respectable suburban physician in America back through New York to Portugal, Rome, and wartime Germany. On the

15/07/2024

Content note: the novel raises issues of sexual violence, domestic violence, child abuse, child sexual exploitation and disordered eating. Looking at Amis' Lon

27/05/2024

https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/27/martin-amis-memorial-to-be-held-in-london?CMP=share_btn_url

Friends, family and colleagues will celebrate the author with tributes and readings at St Martin-in-the-Fields church with limited tickets available for members of the public

27/05/2024

This episode discusses Amis's first short story collection, loosely themed on nuclear war and its aftermath, and concludes that the stories are unsatisfying. On

30/04/2024

A detailed discussion of one of Amis's best books, exploring the strange appeal of John Self, what it is that the character Martin Amis takes from him as reward

05/03/2024

A look at the science fiction Garden of Eden/ Frankenstein/ mad robot film Saturn 3 for which Amis wrote a screenplay, although nothing in the finished script bears much evidence of his style. It's chief interest is as raw material for the novel Money. https://saturn3makingof.com/ https://www.indust...

05/02/2024

A look at some of the film versions of Amis's books as a prelude to Saturn 3: Rachel papers (1989) and Dead Babies (Mood Swingers) (2000)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAJqCZQ2Yrs ,

30/11/2023

Is Other People more of a mystery than the author intended? I present the evidence that Mary is dead, is in hell, or is in a life loop with a chance of redemption. Plus Amis's further thoughts on literature and life, and the emergence of the mature Amis style. https://www.facebook.com/AmisPapers htt...

13/11/2023

This episode discussed Success, a tale of two brothers and sister trying to adapt to the adult world, by way of unreliable narration, urban landscapes, childhood trauma and attempted hedonism. Links are made to the world of work as described in Joseph Heller Something Happened , and textual parallel...

26/10/2023

This episode explores Amis' second novel Dead Babies, an account of a drug- and sex-fuelled weekend at an Oxfordshire rectory which conceals a serious moral purpose. The podcast considers what the title means, why Quentin's reading helps explain the book's thesis, what Menippus has to tell us about....

01/09/2023

This episode looks at The Rachel Papers (1973) and explores what Charles Highway's fatal flaw is, what the Rachel papers are, and why Charles admires Norman so much. Contains some explicit language from the book.

24/08/2023

Episode 1 out now!

This episode provides some context: a brief biography of Amis, my experience as a fan since the 1980s seeing his reputation rise and fall, and a reader's guide for those new to his work suggesting which to read first and which to avoid.

18/08/2023

Episode 1 coming soon