Inside Story

Praise

“It feels as if Amis has found his mature voice, one that is warm, generous and deeply moving, whether on the subject of fatherhood, love or friendship (particularly with Christopher Hitchens). 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, The Observer

“Brilliant . . . Abounds with entertaining anecdotes . . . [Amis] explores the rich terrain of how matters of the heart (and loins) inform art . . . Stylistically, Inside Story is most reminiscent of Dylan’s Chronicles, a master artist following his muse to create a genre-defying and career-defining work.” —Bill Kelly, Booklist (starred review)

“Hitchens lived his life as extravagantly as he loved it, and Amis’s elegant tribute to his friend is a monument to both of them.” —Kyle Smith, New Criterion

“Deeply engaging . . . Resembles Sebald’s influential genre-straddlers with the inclusion of photos . . . The book is almost everywhere wonderfully readable, rich in the familiar Amis pleasures of wit, insight, and well-formed anecdotes . . . An intriguing, often brilliant addition to a storied career.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Consistently intelligent and compulsively readable . . . Amis again proves himself to be as savvy a thinker as he is a writer as he applies his insight and curiosity as a novelist to this stylish and genuine account of his development as a writer. The result reaches the heights of his finest work.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“One of the best qualities of the book is its regard for the reader . . . Inside Story contains wonderful considerations of what it is to be a writer, the importance of reading while writing, and writing while reading. It offers, in a way, what Amis’s parents gave him: an insight into the lives of writers . . . His love for literature is earnestly shared [and] a lifetime of scholarship is reflected in the quality of the writing.” —Sinead O’Shea, The Millions