The group of British writers called the "Angry Young Men" included Kingsley Amis, John Osborne and Alan Sillitoe, among others. This was in the 1950s when these writers shocked readers with their rejection of middle-class values. Amis, famous for the novel, Lucky Jim, is known for his satires on the class system.
Early Years of Kingsley Amis
Kingsley Amis was born on April 16, 1922 in London. When he was 19, he won a scholarship at Oxford University where he studied English.
He served as an officer during World War II, and completed his English degree at the age of 25. That same year he became a college teacher in Wales. He also published his first book of poetry, Bright November.
Masterpiece Lucky Jim
Kingsley Amis continued to teach and to publish poetry for several years. While doing so, he was also working on what was to become his first and most famous novel, Lucky Jim. Published when he was 32, Lucky Jim is a funny story about a young man from a lower-middle-class background who becomes a college teacher. He grows to hate what he sees as the cultural and class snobbery of the academic world.
The novel was immensely successful. It struck a chord among readers who felt angry about what they felt society's hypocrisy especially on the issue of people being pressured to move up through social classes as a gauge to be better.
Amis Novelist and Poet
In addition to his novels that satirizes the British social values, Amis wrote a ghost story, The Green Man; a detective novel, The Riverside Villas Murder; and spy novels. His sustained prose blends with P.G. Wodehouse's realistic situation characteristic of post-war period having been a WWII officer. Amis was also a gifted poet, and a lifelong friends with the famous poet Philip Larkin.
In 1990, Amis was awarded a knighthood, making him Sir Kingsley Amis. His son, Martin Amis, is also a respected novelist. Sir Kingsley Amis died in London on October 22, 1995, aged 73.
Works by Kingsley Amis
- A Frame of Mind, 1953, poetry
- Lucky Jim, 1954
- That Uncertain Feeling, 1955
- A Case of Samples, 1956, Poetry
- I Like It Here, 1958
- The James Bond Dossier, 1965
- The Anti-Death League, 1966
- The Green Man, 1969
- The Riverside Villas murder, 1973
- Collected Poems 1944-1979, 1979
- Stanley and the Women, 1984
- The Old Devils, 1986
- Memoirs, 1991
Sources:
- Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994.
- McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers / Harrap Publishers, 2002.
- Ousby, Ian. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
- Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997.
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