Kingsley Amis

Kingsley Amis (1922-1995), British novelist, whose works take a humorous yet highly critical look at British society, especially of the period following the end of World War II in 1945. Born in London, he was educated at Saint John's College at the University of Oxford and then served in the British Army Royal Corps of Signals during World War II. After the war he became a college teacher.

Amis's first novel, Lucky Jim (1954), a bitingly satirical story of an unheroic young college instructor, won the Somerset Maugham Award. The book influenced a number of British playwrights and novelists, including John Osborne and Alan Sillitoe, who were known as the angry young men because of their rebellious and critical attitude toward postwar British society. In his later novels That Uncertain Feeling (1955) and Take a Girl Like You (1960) Amis further explored his disillusionment.

In the 1970s Amis wrote The Green Man (1970), The Riverside Villas Murder (1973), On Drink (1973), and Jake's Thing (1979). Later works include Stanley and the Women (1984), considered by many to be critical of the feminist movement; The Old Devils (1986), a humorous look at middle-class Welsh people, which won the Booker Prize; The Folks That Live on the Hill (1990), a satirical portrayal of middle age, retirement, and quirky family life; The Russian Girl (1994), a droll comedy of manners; and The Biographer's Mustache (1995). Amis also wrote poetry, criticism, and short stories.