Introduction

Abstract

Spanning three decades, ten novels, six works of nonfiction, two short story collections, and nearly 400 reviews and essays, Martin Amis’s career already testifies to a lifetime devoted to literature. From the appearance of his first novel, The Rachel Papers (1973), to his most recent novel, Yellow Dog (2003), roughly 30 years later, Amis has inspired some of the most controversial literary debates of the contemporary era. His work has prompted new considerations of realism, postmodernism, feminism, politics, and culture, and his personal life has provided fodder for gossip and tabloid journalism. As is true of anyone whose life has veered into celebrity, such evaluations have not always been civil or reciprocally welcomed. However, they have always been lively, always been edifying, and they continue to confirm Amis’s status as one of England’s most important living writers.