Pregnant Widow

Martin Amis was twenty-three when he wrote his first novel, The Rachel Papers (1973). Over the next half century – in fourteen more novels, two collections of short stories, eight works of literary criticism and reportage, and his acclaimed memoir, Experience – he established himself as the most distinctive and influential prose stylist of his generation. To many of his readers, Amis was also the funniest. His intoxicating comedic gifts express a profound understanding of the human experience, particularly its most shocking cruelties, and Amis wrote with pathos and verve on an astonishing range of subjects, from masculinity and movie violence to nuclear weapons and Nazi doctors. His books, which have been translated into thirty-eight languages, provide an indelible portrait and critique of late-capitalist society at the turn of the twenty-first century. He died in 2023.

"No one better understands the cosmic joke that is humanity. Nor is anyone as funny telling it" -- Andrew Anthony Observer "One of the funniest books I've read in a long time" -- Mariella Frostrup Psychologies "Read it: it is hilarious, often wonderfully perceptive, uncompromisingly ambitious and written by a great master of the English language" -- Justin Cartwright Financial Times "Moving and humane... I love this novel... It is beautifully achieved, cunningly relaxed, and reveals considerable emotional depth" -- Philip Hensher Daily Telegraph "The best novelist of his generation" Independent