Acclaimed Novelist Martin Amis Dies Aged 73

Influential author, Martin Amis, has died at the age of 73.

Amis was noted for being one of the most talented authors of his generation, with his 1984 novel ‘Money’ listed as one of the top 100 novels written in the English language by The Guardian.

His writing was renowned for its style and voice, with the author once telling The Paris Review that “plots really matter only in thrillers.”

Amis’ early years as an author were marked by his productivity; his debut book The Rachel Papers was published in 1973, with his follow-up, Dead Babies, coming just a year after. His third novel, Success, was published before the end of that decade while he was working as the literary editor of the New Statesman.

In total, Amis wrote 15 novels before his death. He was survived by his wife Isabel Fonseca and his five children.

Amis came from a family of writers. His stepmother was the novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard, and his father was the Booker-winning novelist Kingsley Amis.

Martin was born in 1949, with his parents, the aforementioned Kingsley and Hillary Bardwell, already having one child and one more to come before their separation when Martin was 12.

Amis discussed his father’s career and death in his memoir ‘Experience.’ Released in 2000, the memoir also touched on the subject of finding out he had a 17-year-old daughter he had never met and the life of his cousin, Lucy Partington, who was a victim of serial killers Fred and Rosemary West.

Never one to shy away from controversy, Amis had notable clashes with other authors and publishers, as well as making some regretful comments. However, he will be remembered as one of the great writers of his generation and one of the dominant voices of the British literary scene in the 1980s.

This was a point his former UK editor, Dan Franklin, made while paying tribute. He said: “For so many people of my generation, Martin Amis was the one: the coolest, funniest, most quotable, most beautiful writer in the British literary firmament.

“He was fearless in his opinions (although curiously naive about the furore those opinions would provoke in the British press), he wrote inimitable prose and some of the funniest novels you will ever read. The news that he has died is unbearably sad.”

His publisher, Vintage Books, also issued a statement after his death.

It read: “For 40 years Martin Amis bestrode the world of UK publishing: first by defining what it meant to be a literary wunderkind by releasing his first novel at just 24; influencing a generation of prose stylists; and often summing up entire eras with his books, perhaps most notably with his classic novel, Money.”

It added: “He was always unfailingly warm, kind and generous to those fortunate enough to work closely with him. His death is an enormous loss to all of us at Penguin Random House and to the UK’s cultural landscape.”

Author

  • Cian Murray is an experienced writer and editor, who graduated from Cardiff University’s esteemed School of Journalism, Media and Culture. His work has been featured in both local and national media, and he has also produced content for multinational brands and agencies.

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