Girl, 20

Flower power packs a powerful topsy-turvy punch on nearly everybody in the late 1960s, even a renowned 54-year old symphony orchestra conductor in London. This is one Kingsley Amis novel I found to be highly engaging, entertaining and, such a pleasant surprise, actually funny – and for a clear-cut r......more

69th book of 2020. A decent read, though only my second Kingsley Amis novel after Lucky Jim. The wit remains, but this time we have affairs, polyamory, a girl fight, a regular fight and classical music. Duggers Our protagonist is Douglas, and there's not a great deal to say about him. He's a thirty-thr......more

A surprisingly good read. After reading the authors Old Devils winner of a Man Booker prize I decided to try another book written by him. Douglas Yandall is a critic writing about classical music for a newspaper. He is also friends with Sir Roy Vandervane a famous composer-conductor who is trying to......more

I read it because Hitchens (in his memoir Hitch-22) wrote that this was the Kingsley Amis' best work. I concur.......more

3.5 stars rounded up I have only read one book by Kingsley Amis before, the well-known 'Lucky Jim'. This book is similar in style, a comedy set in London of the late '60's. In part a social commentary on the youth of the '60's, we follow 2 main characters: the narrator, a music critic in his mid-30's......more