Amis << AY mihs >>, Kingsley (1922-1995), was an English novelist best known for his witty satirical stories about British society. His most famous work is his first novel, Lucky Jim (1954). In it, Jim Dixon, a young university instructor, is disgusted by the falseness of his colleagues and their work. The Old Devils (1986), about a group of aging friends in Wales, won the 1986 Booker Prize, the United Kingdom’s highest literary award. Amis’s other novels include That Uncertain Feeling (1955), Take a Girl Like You (1960), One Fat Englishman (1964), The Green Man (1970), Jake’s Thing (1979), Difficulties with Girls (1989), and The Folks That Live on the Hill (1990).
Kingsley William Amis was born on April 16, 1922, in London. During the 1950’s, he became identified with the Angry Young Men, a group of writers who sharply ridiculed middle-class society. Later, Amis turned to writing detective and spy fiction under the name Robert Markham. Amis was also a noted poet. His Collected Poems: 1944-1979 was published in 1979. Memoirs (1991) is a book of autobiographical essays. Queen Elizabeth II knighted Amis in 1990, and he became Sir Kingsley Amis. He died on Oct. 22, 1995. Martin Amis, his son, was a noted English novelist.
