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Inside Story

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Inside Story

By: Martin Amis
Narrated by: Alex Jennings
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

This extraordinary novel gives the reader the heart-to-heart testimony of one of our finest writers - a wonder of literary invention and a boisterous modern classic.


His most intimate and epic work to date, Inside Story is the portrait of Martin Amis' extraordinary life, as a man and a writer. This novel had its birth in a death - that of the author's closest friend, Christopher Hitchens. We also encounter the vibrant characters who have helped define Martin Amis, from his father Kingsley, to his hero Saul Bellow, from Philip Larkin to Iris Murdoch and Elizabeth Jane Howard, and to the person who captivated his twenties, the alluringly amoral Phoebe Phelps.

What begins as a thrilling tale of romantic entanglements, family and friendship, evolves into a tender, witty exploration of the hardest questions: how to live, how to grieve, and how to die? In his search for answers, Amis surveys the great horrors of the twentieth century, and the still unfolding impact of the 9/11 attacks on the twenty-first - and shares all he has learned on how to write.

The result is one of Amis' greatest achievements: a love letter to life that is at once exuberant, meditative, heartbreaking and ebullient, to be savoured and cherished for many years to come.

© Martin Amis 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Biographical Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Biography Heartfelt Witty Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

Warm, generous and deeply moving... This is not only the best book Amis has written in years; it is up there with Money and London Fields as the finest work he's produced. (Alex Preston)
World-class talent... With the life-giving warmth of his brilliant, generous, sometimes unsparing critical writing... Martin Amis is my favorite living writer and Inside Story is his most beautiful book. (Richard A. Chance)
For my generation of fiction writers, Amis has become like a granite headland, a navigational marker for our collective endeavour. And here...are all the reasons we still love him... Inside Story gives us access to a turbulent, flawed but exceptional writing life. (Rose Tremain)
Another work of genius to remind us that he is the best... Amis writes better than anyone. What a book! (Susan Hill)
One of Britain's greatest living writers... With each sumptuous sentence he proves his credentials... For fans of his work, Inside Story is a victory lap; newcomers will be steered towards his rich back catalogue.
The Mick Jagger of literature... Amis is the most dazzling prose stylist in post-war British fiction. (Mick Brown)
Amis's prose, as you should know by now, has a rush and a power that sweeps you along like surf: you're never going to get a sentence that isn't pulling its weight... The scene at Hitchens's deathbed affected me more than anything else I can remember reading. (Nicholas Lezard)
Inside Story gathers just about every weapon in the writer's armoury... Tender...corrosively witty...swaggeringly funny... It exhilarates. (Boyd Tonkin)
Highly entertaining. (Emma Brockes)
Amis's nonpareil sentences brim with warmth, candour, soul... He has generously laid out this all-you-can-eat Amis buffet. Dig in. (Janice Turner)
All stars
Most relevant
Alex Jennings narrates this book so well, you can feel Martin Amis, the Hitch, Saul bellow eve Philip Larkin... I felt enriched by the depth of love and richness of language and intelligence. Thank you

I feel enriched by this book

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Inside Story takes you to the heart of writing with beautiful prose, insightful observations, , appreciation of other great authors and thoughts on friendship and loss. I found myself making notes as I read.

Like attending a creative writing class.

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I really enjoyed this book, having been a fan of Kingsley and a huge fan of Elizabeth Jane Howard as well as a reader of some of Martin Amis's books, I loved Money for instance but I can't read them all. I thought the narrator was perfect.

Kept me entertained for days

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This is a highly entertaining warts and all meander through Amis's life and loves. He doesn't spare himself as he reflects on and reimagines events and dialogue from his past. It is expertly read by Alex Jennings and most poignant on the passing of Hitchens, Bellow and Larkin. I also enjoyed the references to Nabokov as well as Kingsley Amis. I look forward to the promised new works.

Excellent

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Amis is brilliantly voiced by Jennings, and I feel somehow enhanced and better for listening to it, privileged by Amis’s experiences. Thank you.

So good I’m going to listen to it again, now.

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