Kingsley Amis
Frederic Raphael settles old scores with a vengeance
The nonagenarian’s critical faculties are as sharp as ever in these imaginary letters addressed to Kingsley Amis, Jonathan Miller, Doris Lessing and many others
Why are we so squeamish about describing women’s everyday experiences?
Philip Hensher discusses how words relating to women’s ordinary experiences have been shrouded in euphemism over the centuries
The word ‘like’ is in crisis
‘Blame Kingsley Amis,’ said my husband, with the carelessness of one defying a man out of earshot. The blame, such…
Might ‘may’ kill ‘might’?
‘I’m with the King,’ said my husband. The king in question was Kingsley Amis, whose choleric The King’s English was…
Fare game: life as The Spectator’s restaurant critic
A fictional Spectator restaurant critic called Forbes McAllister appeared on Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge. He was played…
Speaker-speak: the maddening rhetoric of John Bercow
Much has recently been written about the incumbent Commons Speaker, from (vigorously denied) allegations of bullying to (less vigorously denied)…
A biographer’s tale: beware of meeting your literary heroes
Germaine Greer described biographers as ‘vultures’. I prefer to think of myself as a version of Philip Marlowe or Sam…
When Kingsley Amis needed a new insult, he reached for the taboo
‘It’s up there on the shelf you can’t reach,’ said my husband in an unhelpfully helpful tone. The ‘it’ was…
The
Veronica, who looks at Twitter, told me of an exchange she thought would interest me, about the use of the.…
It’s time to kill James Bond
After six decades, it’s time we were done with 007
Ferdinand Mount picks out the plums nicely
Book reviews, John Updike once wrote, ‘perform a clear and desired social service: they excuse us from reading the books…
From dressing-gown drudge to Man Booker winner
John Gross’s The Rise and Fall of the Man of Letters: English Literary Life since 1800, a standard text for…
Larkin’s misty parks and moors — in all their lacerating beauty
When Philip Larkin went up to St John’s College, Oxford, in the early 1940s, he found himself in a world…
Lolita's secret revenge mission, and other daft theories of literary spite
Richard Bradford has written more than 20 books of literary criticism and biography. This latest one is a compendium of…
Mark Amory's diary: Confessions of a literary editor
Until recently I used to claim that I had been literary editor of The Spectator for over 25 years; now…
The biography that makes Philip Larkin human again
We needn’t apologise for Philip Larkin any longer, says Peter J. Conradi. His place is unmistakeably among the greats
Mugabe envy in Scotland
Who owns Scotland? The people who most commonly ask this question believe that the land has been wrested from ordinary…
