Robert Markham

Kingsley William Amis (London, 16 April 1922 — there, 22 October 1995) was an English author of about twenty mostly humorous novels, half a dozen poetry collections, a number of short story collections and about ten books of literary and social commentary. He was also a lecturer in Swansea (1948-1961) and briefly in Cambridge (1961-1963). His style is characterized by razor-sharp observations, a very good ear for English idiom and sometimes hilarious plots.

Amis was born in London, attended school there at the City of London School and studied literature at St John's College, Oxford. He served in the army in the signals service before resuming his studies in 1947. He broke through with his first book Lucky Jim, which became a bestseller and set a new trend in contemporary literature. He was a representative of what became known as the Angry Young Men movement. Lucky Jim was the first book in which an 'ordinary person' played the lead role as an antihero.

Amis was also interested in science fiction and compiled a number of anthologies of it.

Kingsley Amis was married twice, the second time to Elizabeth Jane Howard, and he had three children. His son Martin Amis († 2023) was also a respected writer.

In 1990 Amis was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and since then he may be called sir.