The Life of Kingsley Amis Hardback - 2007

Media reviews

Praise from the United Kingdom:

“This is a book of true stature about a complex talent. Few literary biographies can match it for depth and intimacy.”
–The Sunday Times

“Outstanding . . . Leader has surpassed himself . . . He gives us not only the man, but also his milieu; he gives us not only the compelling virtues but also the staggering flaws. This is the best biography I have read for ages: deeply researched, crisply written and beautifully judged.” –The Daily Telegraph

“Elegantly organised, lovingly detailed and–how could it not be?–eruptively funny, Zachary Leader’s book is hard to put down.”
–New Statesman

“Marvellous . . . It has become a fashion to denounce long biographies as telling us more than we need to know, but Leader’s is a triumphant vindication of its nine-hundred-plus pages. It’s a pleasure to read, and the accumulation of detail gives a real sense of a life being led.”
–The Independent

“Marvellous . . . I ought to say that this book is two hundred pages too long, but as I enjoyed almost every word of it, I can’t.”
–The Spectator

“Very thorough and very straight-talking. It’s also very clear in its aims. [Leader] displays the facts of each matter plainly, allowing readers to deliver their own praise and blame, and counterbalances them with his attention to the work. It’s an impressively well-judged response.” –The Guardian

“Full, perceptive and admirably even-handed . . . Considered as a narrative of the growth and decay of character, Leader’s biography starts to assume the features of an Aristotelian tragedy.” –London Review of Books

“My admiration for Leader’s skill as a biographer is unalloyed. It’s a big book, but the interest never flags.”
–The Sunday Telegraph