Kingsley Amis Books

1993

Published in hardcover. Covered in Mylar by the previous owner. There are minor markings on the jacket. The boards are in excellent condition. There is a small amount of scuffing on the spine head. The pages in the main body remain clean and in excellent condition. GE

Although best known for his comic novels, Kingsley Amis wrote poetry throughout his career. Collected Poems spans subjects from nature and cricket to love, ageing and literature, brimming with his characteristic wit and irreverence, yet full of compassion. 'The Last War' brings home the futility of battle by portraying countries as flawed characters destined for misfortune, while 'Their Oxford' reflects on the passing of time, and in contrast the playful 'Sight Unseen' laments the difficulty of attracting women. By turns provocative and poignant, this collection provides an illuminating glimpse into the heart and mind of Amis.

An omnibus containing three Kingsley Amis novels - "Jake's Thing", "Stanley and the Women" and "The Old Devils", which won the 1986 Booker Prize for Fiction.

1972. First Edition Thus. 237 pages. Paperback book with pictorial cover. Pages and binding are presentable with no major defects. Minor issues present such as mild cracking, inscriptions, inserts, light foxing, tanning and thumb marking. Overall a good condition item. Paper cover has mild edge-wear with light rubbing and creasing. Some light marking and tanning.

"Reciter" is a nineteenth-century term used here for a collection of characteristically nineteenth-century poems that sound well and go well when spoken in a declamatory style. If recitation has died out in the family circle, reading aloud has not, and it is as material for this that the editor's anthology is ideally intended. He is not afraid to include many examples of "good bad verse" because he recognises that they echo something in all men's hearts. But he does not neglect better Kipling is here, of course, with Tennyson and Byron and Macaulay – ringing voices that may no longer be recited, as in earlier times, but can and should be read aloud with profit and pleasure.

A successor to Dictionary of modern English usage (popularly known as Modern English usage) H.W. Fowler which was preceded by King's English / H.W. Fowler and F.G. Fowler.

This collection is vintage Amis from a succcession of good years. A selection of his non-fiction pieces in the form of reviews, articles, broadcasts and letters are gathered together in this book. Topics such as writers and writing, "abroad", eating and drinking, music, language, educational and social questions are examined. Such Amis hobby-horses as arts subsidies, literary prizes and jazz are also featured as well as writers such as Evelyn Waugh, Anthony Powell, Anthony Burgess and Ian Fleming. Among poets, the great Victorians are celebrated, and serious consideration is given to Philip Larkin.

A scourge of illiteracy and a thorn in the side of pretension, the author provides advice about the linguistic blunders that lie in wait for us, from danglers and four-letter words to jargon and even Welsh rarebit.