Martin Amis, the author whose novels turned a gimlet eye toward life in late-20th-century Britain, died at 73, the Guardian reports. The cause of death was esophageal cancer.
Amis, a native of Oxford, England, was educated at Oxford University. His father was Kingsley Amis, the celebrated novelist and author of Lucky Jim and The Old Devils.
He began his literary career as a writer for publications including the Observer, the Times Literary Supplement, and the New Statesman. He made his fiction debut in 1973 with The Rachel Papers, and followed that up two years later with Dead Babies.
More than a dozen other novels would follow, including his best known books, Money and London Fields. He also wrote several works of nonfiction, including Visiting Mrs. Nabokov: And Other Excursions and the National Book Critics Circle Award–winning The War Against Cliché: Essays and Reviews, 1971-2000.
Amis’ most recent novel, Inside Story, was published in 2020. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the book “an intriguing, often brilliant addition to a storied career.”
Amis’ admirers paid tribute to him on social media. On Twitter, the account for Penguin Books U.K. wrote, “We are devastated at the death of our author and friend, Martin Amis. Our thoughts are with all his family and loved ones, especially his children and wife Isabel. He leaves a towering legacy and an indelible mark on the British cultural landscape, and will be missed enormously.”
And author David Vernon tweeted, “Devastated that Martin Amis has died. One of the great English novelists—and a magnificent heir to Joyce, Bellow and Nabokov. Rest well, Mart.”
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
