{"id":328030,"date":"2025-12-02T17:22:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T17:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/uncategorized\/martin-amiss-actual-best-novels-all-by-my-shelf\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T17:22:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T17:22:57","slug":"martin-amiss-actual-best-novels-all-by-my-shelf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030","title":{"rendered":"Martin Amis\u2019s actual best novels \u2013 All By My Shelf"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

In the numerous pieces published about the death of Martin Amis, a number of contributors felt the understandable need to provide an assessment of his best work. Many of these lists included his essays and criticism; and in terms of his novels, there was an almost unanimous agreement that Money<\/em> should be at the top, closely followed by London Fields<\/em>, with third place allotted to a later \u2013 sometimes much later \u2013 work, presumably to offer an indication that the writer of the piece had kept abreast of Amis\u2019s work during the erratic second half of his career. <\/p>\n

They are wrong, though. While Money<\/em> would probably slip into my top five, it wouldn\u2019t make the top three. Which are:<\/p>\n

3. Dead Babies (1975)<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

Everything that is present and correct in Money<\/em> and London Fields<\/em> is already here, in spades, a decade earlier. Grotesque characters, outlandish excesses, fears about teeth, characters called Keith \u2013 this was the template for all that came later. Ostensibly a mystery of sorts set during a country-house weekend, the plot is to most intents and purposes incidental to the stylistic flourishes in every page. But there\u2019s enough room for a twist that is far more unsettling than those served up in the later two novels. <\/p>\n

Best bit<\/strong>: It\u2019s tempting to opt for the author\u2019s note at the very beginning of the book, where Amis sets out his stall with typical aplomb: \u201cNot only are all characters and scenes in this book entirely fictitious; most of the technical, medical and psychological data are, too. My working maxim here has been as follows: I may not know much about science, but I know what I like.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

For sheer comic chutzpah, however, it\u2019s hard to look past the entire chapter about Keith\u2019s family, the ludicrously obese Whiteheads. Here, for example, is father Frank: \u201cAs he trundles down the street school-parties are floored by his myriad stray fists of flab; bus platforms snap off should he climb on board; lifts whinny, shudder and stay where they are when he presses the UP button and plummet terrifyingly whether or not he is so foolish as to press the DOWN; chairs splinter beneath him; tables somersault at a touch from his elbow; joints crack and floorboards powder.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Time\u2019s Arrow (1991)<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

Make what you will of the fact that this was Amis\u2019s only novel to be shortlisted for the Booker. But his story of the life of a German doctor told backwards \u2013 from his death in an American hospital, through the Holocaust, and back to his earliest memory in the city of Solingen, near D\u00fcsseldorf \u2013 is crammed with haunting images that stay rooted in the memory. It may not be the first life-told-backwards story, but it is surely the best.<\/p>\n

Best bit<\/strong>: All of the scenes in Auschwitz are harrowing and impressive in equal measure. The prisoners being given jewellery as they are brought back to life in the shower room; the old man splashing and struggling in the latrine until he is \u201choisted out by the jubilant guards\u201d. <\/p>\n

But nothing exemplifies the power of the approach more than the reunifications the doctor engineers on the ramp at the railway station: \u201cAs matchmakers, we didn\u2019t know the meaning of the word <\/em>failure; on the ramp, stunning successes were as cheap as spit. When the families coalesced, how their hands and eyes would plead for one another, under out indulgent gaze. We toasted them far into the night.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

1. The Rachel Papers (1973)<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

Nothing written after this topped it for sheer verve. Essentially a fictionalised account of the period Amis spent cramming to get into Oxford, the entire first page \u2013 \u201cMy name is Charles Highway, though you wouldn\u2019t think it to look at me. It\u2019s such a rangy, well-travelled, big-cocked name and, to look at, I am none of these.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 could be probably be quoted in its entirety by readers of a certain generation. No doubt much of it could be viewed as problematic when looking at it through the rear-view mirror; but really its only real flaw is that it inspired a terrible film.<\/p>\n

Best bit<\/strong>: There\u2019s much to be said for the university interview scene, and the chapter where Charles and Rachel have sex for the first time: \u201cTwo thirteens twenty-six, three thirteens thirty-nine, thirteen twenty-sixes forty-two. (As regards the physical aspect, by the way, this is all utterly intolerable.)\u201d<\/em> But back to the first page, and this: \u201cTwenty, of course, is the real turning point. Sixteen, eighteen, twenty-one; these are arbitrary milestones, enabling you only to get arrested for HP-payment evasion, get married, buggered, executed, and so on: external things \u2026 Twenty may not be the start of maturity but, in all conscience, it\u2019s the end of youth.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the numerous pieces published about the death of Martin Amis, a number of contributors felt the understandable need to provide an assessment of his best work. Many of these lists included his essays and criticism; and in terms of his novels, there was an almost unanimous agreement that Money should be at the top, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":328031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[52051,154385,4304,4147,2064],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-328030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-actual","tag-amiss","tag-martin","tag-novels","tag-shelf"],"yoast_head":"\nMartin Amis\u2019s actual best novels \u2013 All By My Shelf - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Martin Amis\u2019s actual best novels \u2013 All By My Shelf - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the numerous pieces published about the death of Martin Amis, a number of contributors felt the understandable need to provide an assessment of his best work. Many of these lists included his essays and criticism; and in terms of his novels, there was an almost unanimous agreement that Money should be at the top, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-02T17:22:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764696178_image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"220\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"341\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34a251993513824056d80e6fd018db30\"},\"headline\":\"Martin Amis\u2019s actual best novels \u2013 All By My Shelf\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-02T17:22:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030\"},\"wordCount\":805,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764696178_image.png\",\"keywords\":[\"actual\",\"Amiss\",\"Martin\",\"novels\",\"Shelf\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030\",\"name\":\"Martin Amis\u2019s actual best novels \u2013 All By My Shelf - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764696178_image.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-02T17:22:57+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764696178_image.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764696178_image.png\",\"width\":220,\"height\":341},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Martin Amis\u2019s actual best novels \u2013 All By My Shelf\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34a251993513824056d80e6fd018db30\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nynetwork.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nynetwork.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Martin Amis\u2019s actual best novels \u2013 All By My Shelf - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Martin Amis\u2019s actual best novels \u2013 All By My Shelf - Som2ny Network","og_description":"In the numerous pieces published about the death of Martin Amis, a number of contributors felt the understandable need to provide an assessment of his best work. Many of these lists included his essays and criticism; and in terms of his novels, there was an almost unanimous agreement that Money should be at the top, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-12-02T17:22:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":220,"height":341,"url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764696178_image.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34a251993513824056d80e6fd018db30"},"headline":"Martin Amis\u2019s actual best novels \u2013 All By My Shelf","datePublished":"2025-12-02T17:22:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030"},"wordCount":805,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764696178_image.png","keywords":["actual","Amiss","Martin","novels","Shelf"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030","url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030","name":"Martin Amis\u2019s actual best novels \u2013 All By My Shelf - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764696178_image.png","datePublished":"2025-12-02T17:22:57+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764696178_image.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764696178_image.png","width":220,"height":341},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=328030#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Martin Amis\u2019s actual best novels \u2013 All By My Shelf"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34a251993513824056d80e6fd018db30","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nynetwork.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nynetwork.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com"],"url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=328030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/328031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=328030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=328030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=328030"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=328030"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=328030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}