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Kingsley Amis's The King's English is as witty and biting as his novels. Modestly presented as a volume "in which some modern linguistic problems are discussed and perhaps settled," Amis's usage guide is a worthy companion to his revered Fowler's. The King's English is distinctly British, but never mind: it is sensational. And unlike many of his countrymen, Amis is decidedly pro-American, even admitting a "bias towards American modes of expression as likely to seem the livelier and ... smarter alternative." In a world populated by usage mavens too willing to waffle, Amis is refreshingly unequivocal. On the expression meaningful dialogue? It "looks and sounds unbearably pompous. Nevertheless one would not wish to be deprived of a phrase that so unerringly points out its user as a humourless ninny." To cross one's 7's, he says, "is either gross affectation or, these days, straightforward ignorance." And the frequently misused word viable, he claims, "should be dropped altogether ... simply because it has taken the fancy of every trendy little twit on the look-out for a posh word for feasible, practicable." Forget Amis's protestations of being unfit for the position of language arbiter; after all, as he says, "the defence of the language is too large a matter to be left to the properly qualified." --Jane SteinbergBook Description

Customer Reviews (6)

May think he's the God of Usage, but he's only half-right . . .
Amis on language use can be infuriating. In reading through his usage notes, I found myself swinging from a fist-pumping "YES!" to gleeful snickers to an appalled "Say what?!" The author was the product of a classical education in the 1930s, which he explains as the basis of some of his preferences, but he's also partial to the way Americanisms have crept into British English -- usually. He doesn't like "aren't I" (it should be "am I not," since "amn't I" is hardly pronounceable), and he compares calling children "kids" to calling an Italian a "wop." He thinks foreign words when used by an Englishman should be forced into an Anglicized pronunciation; anyone who tries to pronounce a French word or term as the French do is a "wanker." To me, this is the worst sort of imperial arrogance -- and it's even more puzzling since Amis also inveighs against the British tendency to snootiness overseas. On the other hand, he counsels the reader to avoid dressed-up, generally wrongly-used vogue words like "opine," "orchestrate," "feedback," and "relevant," with which I entirely agree. But just when he's on a roll, he declares that "`Restauranteur' is impossible in French and a pretentious illiteracy in English." Sigh. Well, read the book and enjoy Amis's ability to draw blood with a well-chosen word, but don't feel obliged to agree with all his judgments or to accept his occasional pomposity.

WRITING WRONGS
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Are you disinterested or uninterested? When do you say alternately or should it be alternatively? These are words we hear everyday; but they are often confused and misused, even in the mainstream media. Help is at hand. The famous English author Kingsley Amis's last book The King's English will provide professional writers and those who care about their language, expert guidance in the usage of English.

Amis is best known for his novels such as Lucky Jim and the Old Devils, but he was also a skilled observer and commentator on late 20th Century life and language. Amis died in 1995, with this book being published posthumously, two years later.

In this book, he takes us from the classic formalism of old-school academic scholars with their groundings in Latin and Greek, through to the street-wise pop-media of the contemporary world. He bridges the gap between the rigorous, proscribed rules of the original 1926 classic H.W. Fowler's Modern English Usage and the modern, pragmatic world where English is recognised as the global language. Despite being an Englishman, Amis acknowledged the ascendancy and the practical "correctness" of American English.

Amis in his book is very careful not to be too pedantic with his comments. In his entry on the pronunciation of kilometre, he argues against the common practice of stressing the second syllable and therefore making it sound like a device to measure items grouped in thousands. Amis assures us such a device once existed, but he concludes "not many people know that, or would care if they did."

Amis has fun criticising - and gently mocking - fashionable trends in writing, particularly in the field of newspaper journalism.In his entry on headlines, Amis gives examples of sub-editors stringing together three or more nouns to make a headline, such as, SCHOOL COACH CRASH DRAMA. He also criticises the journalistic trick of overloading descriptions in one sentence, which he calls the "gorged-snake construction."

Political abuse of the language is also put under the Amis spotlight. How often do we hear politicians "refuting", when all they are doing is denying, and not proving the falsity of the allegation, which is what the word really means?

The King's English is not an exhaustive guide to language use, but anybody who makes a living from writing or takes other people's writing seriously will want to keep a copy of this book close by their dictionary. Should we be implying or inferring this? Either way, this book is inspirational, amusing as well as instructive.

Pompous..but amusing none the less
Let us first start with the name of the author of the book in question. "Kingsley Amis", so snotty, so upper-crust and blue blooded...so apropros!Who else would you want to tell you in grand meticulous detail how much you (you meaning the American, you meaning myself as well) butcher the King's English. I adore this book I would give it 5 stars but there are moments when Kingsley (to be said through clenched teeth) meanders a bit and becomes, dare I say it? TOO WORDY.Overall, 4 1/2 stars just for the sheer snottiness of it! Bravo!

Curmudgeonly, pedantic language fun
This is not in all seriousness a guide to usage.It's more like Amis's personal opinion piece, or list of pet peeves.His criticism cuts both ways, searing both those who take liberties with language, and those who are overly stuffed-shirt about using "whom" or saying "it is I."The closest thing to this among American writers would be William Safire, with a dash of Dave Barry.Amis is deadly funny, with a certain snootiness and condescension that are simultaneously repugnant and heroic.

This book shouldn't REALLY be your usage guide.Used as one, it would leave you feeling befuddled, and perhaps belittled.But it reads a bit like a usage guide, with an alphabetical list of topics for Amis's rants, e.g., "genteelisms," "whom," "get," etc.With insults freely being applied to people who speak in certain ways, however, it is more like a collection of Amis's opinions, to be used in conjunction with a real usage guide (as Amis admits in the introduction).

I am giving this book 5 stars because I am a language pedant, and find this stuff extremely entertaining.I read through it excitedly in one sitting; it's fascinating to me to find out what grammar points irk other language pedants.If you are not a language pedant, however, you may be bored by this book.

GREAT AS REFERENCE BOOK--BETTER AS ENTERTAINMENT!
I agree with Sir Kingsley that nothing will ever replace FOWLER'S, though many have tried (Merriam Webster is a respected, wholly American enterprise).The beloved M.E.U. remains the standard, to be sure, but Amis's offereing is more an exercise in side-splitting sardonic humor aboutthe common mistakes in English usage than the prosaic utility of itsrevered predecessor.Some of the funniest examples are the most useful,the most erudite being the most interesting.But I do not agree, as someof its critics maintain, that this is only meant for the people of Britain. Sir Kingsley is a thorough-going defender of "Americanisms."Irecommend you obtain this volume for your work desk, but also for yourfavorite reading place.And be prepared to laugh out loud! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A supremely witty treatment of the subject of boozemanship.
Kingsley Amis writes in the breezy style of a good English gent, on a subject about which he has much knowledge and even more experience--boozemanship.This series of short articles provides anauthoritative statement on what to drink and how to drink it, along withwith a hefty jigger of Amis's profoundly hilarious sense of understatement. ... Read more

Book Description
The legend continues! Stand by for more adventures with the world's greatest secret agent, as his most thrilling missions are collected for the first time ever!

When James Bond's boss, the enigmatic M, is kidnapped in Greece, Bond must race to his rescue — with only some local fishermen to help! But 007 uncovers a plan to sabotage a USSR summit... and the evil Colonel Sun is planning to frame the British Secret Service for the crime!

This new, never-before-collected edition, features Kingsley Amis's only James Bond story, plus a new introduction by Britt Ekland, and exclusive features examining the post-Fleming comics and Kingsley Amis's Bond work! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

not what I expected
Nothing in the Amazon descriptions said this was a collection of comic strips from the newspaper. I was expecting the novel by Kinglsey Amis. All the others in the series (I now see) say "graphic novel" in their title.

An absolute "must-have" for all dedicated James Bond fans
Latest in a series of James Bond daily strip collections, James Bond 007: Colonel Sun by the team of Kingsley Amis, Jim Lawrence, and Yaroslav Horak is a graphic novel compilation of black-and-white daily newspaper strips that adapted Ian Fleming's classic James Bond action-adventure story "River of Death" and Sir Kingsley Amis' James Bond story "Golden Sun" to comic format. In addition to flawless reproductions of the original strips, James Bond 007: Colonel Sun includes an introduction by Britt Ekland, a summary of how Kingsley Amis came to continue the Bond legacy after Fleming's passing in 1964, and an interview with comic-strip artist and adapter Jim Lawrence. James Bond 007: Colonel Sun is an absolute "must-have" for all dedicated James Bond fans.

Thanks for the non-Fleming titles
Colonel Sun has always been my favorite non-Fleming novel and I've followed the Daily Express strip collections eagerly. I'm actually more interested now in the original stories for the paper, such as River of Death which is included in this volume. I think the art suffered after losing the original illustrator, however it's still great fun, especially since the strips haven't been movie influenced to a great deal, but stick very close to Fleming's concept. ... Read more

Book Description
Brian Leonard, a Monty Python of secret agents, meets James Churchill, a young officer, at an English army base where preparations are under way for Operation Apollo. To complicate matters, Churchill has gone round-the-bend for a parole from the mental ward.

Thrown amongst these loose cannons is a widowed beauty who practices "conspicuous polyandry," an unfocused psychiatrist, an unbelieving chaplain, and a charming alcoholic.

"Amis delights in combining espionage, violence, love and religious skepticism.Such disparate elements, like dishpans and fire rings, challenge his juggler's dexterity. Who wins? The reader!" (Publisher's Source) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Never Comes Together
Having read a couple Martin Amis books, and more or less enjoyed them, I figured I should check out something by Amis pere. Set on an army base in (apparently) the 1960s, this book tries to blend farce with love story with meditation on the fallacy of God. It doesn't ever really all come together, and in fact no one element works very well on its own either. The farce aspect just wasn't that funny, the love story was hoary and trite, and the meditations of the cruelty and indifference of God seemed rather forced into the rest of it. There are some good scenes here and there, and a large cast of nutty characters, but rarely was I made to care about any of them. Guess I'd better stick to Martin.

Quite good, guvnor
For a book full of the lovely Brits that habitually inhabit the books of Amis, this is the best I've read yet. We have the whole cast right here, the irreverent homosexual to the chaplain who goes on sexual escapades. Thebook is based in the British Army in the 60s, and we get a prettyintriguing plot to do with a foreign enemy and mysterious weapon ofunimaginable horror. And this is where we get a clue to the title. Lt.James Churchill isn't the central character here (for that, there really isno main character, but rather a set of characters) but the story revolvesaround his particular aversion to God and the bad things that happen topeople apparently at random, especially death. This is where I found thebook to be most intelligent and thought-provoking. The Anti-Death League inreality only features very briefly, but it does give meaning to the mainidea of the book, that of people feeling disillusioned with God andchallenging His existence. Apart from that, there are some hilarious sceneswith a mad doctor in charge of the local loonies place, the homosexual MaxHunter and the inept spycatcher Captain Leonard. There is some excitementwith the chasing and catching of the purported spy or spies, very muchhelped by Amis' comic touch. And the end is very nicely and properlypoignant and leaves the reader to decide for himself if the book's messageis atheistic or otherwise or not at all that either.

My only reservationwith this delightful book was the romantic aside between Churchill andCatharine, a former patient of the asylum. Although it fits in well enoughwith the story, it just did strike me as a bit trite and, well, rather toosentimental. If not for that, I would have given it a fiver, and even now Ithink four and a half stars do the real justice to this book. ... Read more

Book Description
"Fussell is a wonderful writer," according to The Washington Post Book World, "at once elegant and earthy."With such books as Wartime and The Great War and Modern Memory, he established a reputation as an incisive critic with a razor-tipped pen.Now Paul Fussell turns his attention to one of his own literary heroes, a man of similar acidic wit, Kingsley Amis.In The Anti-Egotist, Fussell captures the essence of Amis as a man of letters--"a serious critic," as John Gross writes, "operating outside the academic fold."Part biography, part critical appraisal, The Anti-Egotist traces the influences that have shaped Amis's writing, ranging from his schooldays through military service to university teaching, as he emerged as a novelist, poet, and essayist.By drawing our attention to the details first of Amis's life, then of his writing, Fussell reveals the profound moral sense that expresses itself so wonderfully in Amis's fiction and criticism.He mixes affection with insight as he paints a highly personal portrait of Amis as writer who despises self-promotion in all its forms, savaging the world's show-offs and blowhards with a particularly sharp-toothed bite.Amis's criticism, too, shook the British literary world with his "no-nonsense, can-the-bullshit tone," restoring skepticism and honesty to postwar English writing.Fussell guides us through Amis's immense output--portraying him as a book reviewer, custodian of language, gastronomic critic, anthologist, and poet--showing how his overriding concern is always for the public, deriding pretensions that come at a cost to the audience.And the power of Amis's writing, from his humor to his deft characterization, rings through in page after page of Fussell's accurate and evocative assessments.In recent years, Kingsley Amis has drawn considerable fire, thanks to his outspoken conservative opinions; many critics see him as little more than a crusty old curmudgeon.In The Anti-Egotist, Paul Fussell does the reading public a double favor in restoring the reputation of this important writer: he effortlessly captures the literary virtuosity that lifted Amis to fame, and he reveals the moral convictions that make this seeming curmudgeon more relevant than ever. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Remarkable book
"For all the sometimes rowdy comedy attending Amis's depictions of meanness, his understanding of its psychology is complicated and serious. It is, if funny, also immoral, so little and minimal, practiced by wee men only. And it betrays neurosis, implying constant "paranoid" watchfulness lest one be had. It keeps one on a constant stretch of attentive calculation, and this finally becomes a substitute for thought, as well as replacing an objective interest in things outside oneself."

"I feel STRETCHED", Bilbo Baggins after having the One Ring for a while.

Essential for Amis fans
I had to have this one - an intersection of two writers I've admired for some time. Fussel is probably the ideal person to write such an appraisal. As mentioned above, the lack of critical theoryspeak is most welcome. Theinterpretation of Amis as a moral satirist (which isn't a category that yousee very much) provides a useful key to most of his work (fiction, poetry,and prose alike.) If you're a fan of the work, you'll enjoy this - it'slike having a chance to sit down across from an intelligent, perceptivereader who likes the same things you do. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Classic
I know nothing of the reasons why Kingsley Amis wrote this book, but I'm certainly glad he did. A primer on what to drink and how, the book is wonderfully dated by the changes in drinking habits over the past thirty years. Amis's humor stands up though to the test of time though, as does his commentary on why people drink and what drinking signifies in culture. Includes recipes too. ... Read more

Book Description
The year is 1976 and we are alive in an all-Catholic world. The Reformation never took place because Martin Luther made a deal with Rome and became Pope Martin I. The "alteration" proposed to Hubert Anvil, brilliant 10-year-old boy soprano, is that most feared by all males. Pope John XXIV wishes Hubert to preserve the purity of his voice to glorify the Church on a permanent basis; Hubert wishes to share his talent but he has some disquieting thoughts about Pope John's proposal. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

mercilessly boring
I once confessed to a friend my frequent (theoretical) desire to have my gonads surgically removed, that I might concentrate more intently on the true purpose of my life:studying.

Chuckling, he brought over a copy of Amis's "The Alteration," claiming I would find it hilarious and delightful.

The story is set in the mid-twentienth century, but in an alternate universe in which the Protestant Reformation never occurred, so the Catholic church has dominated modern European history as it did during the Middle Ages.

This is just the backdrop.The action centers on young opera singer and the pressure on him to undergo emasculation as a way of preserving his gifts.

Though the book is highly literate and will provide many chuckles for those who are up on their modern European history, I don't feel Amis accomplished anything here that couldn't have been brought off much more swiftly and capably in a simple short story.

Worse, Amis's style in this book is difficult and overwritten, the book lacks sharply-drawn characters, the "alternate reality" angle adds little of substance, and what little suspense is there seems inexplicably squandered.

I returned "The Alteration" to my friend with a polite smile, knowing I'd never read it again.

Oh well.Back to studying.

music, love, and strange times
Amis gives us a very strange 20th century: Since the fundamentalist Martin Luther was elected pope and the Church was reformed, all Europe (including Great Britain) remained Catholic. Science and the laws, hemmed by theological traditions,have not developed to a form we are used to nowadays.
The musical prodigy Hubert Anvil, aged ten, excels with his pure soprano voice and early compositions. So the pope wants to have him alterated to preserve this wonderful voice for his Sistine Chapel. Two emissaries, also alterated, shall test the boy. Here Amis is at his wittiest: Fredericus Mirabilis translated is the famous German tenor Fritz Wunderlich, and the other one, addressed only as Lupogradus, is in German "Wolfgang" (Amadeus Mozart, about sixty years old). Through alteration he lost all his abilitites as a composer, and predicts this sad fate to Hubert, too.
We find a lot of descriptions and disputes about the different kinds of love - carnal, spiritual, and infantile - none which is funny, sometimes cruel, and the boy is interested to hear much about the love he is still too young for, and the joys he will be missing.
When he tries to escape his fate with the help of the dissident American ambassador he falls ill and can only be saved by the removal of his testicles - alteration. Miracle, act of God? A very strange end of the book indeed.

An example of Kingsley Amis's range.
Kingsley Amis is best known as a satirist -- Lucky Jim is one of the funniest books since World War II -- but he always had an interest in science fiction (according to his son Martin, one of his favorite movies was The Terminator), and this book presents an alternative history in which Britain remained a Catholic country, and Martin Luther was reconciled to the Church.Other changes including Bethoven writing 20 symphonies and Mozart dying even earlier than in real life.The main character is a boy (Hubert) about to lose his voice because of puberty; the "alteration" of the title is castration to preserve that voice.Amis presents a well-thought out altenrate version, and the adventures of Hubert to escape his alteration are both interesting and used to further explain this alternative history. Unfortunately, the book is out of print in the U.S.; I got my copy on a trip to Britain. Almost anything Kingsley Amis wrote is interesting, and it is our loss that more of his works are not available in the U.S. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a good but surprising selection!
stories by Kipling, Ambrose Bierce, M R James, Chesterton, Joyce, Maugham, Irwin Shaw, Wodehouse, Nabokov, Angus Wilson, Anthony Boucher, Brian Aldiss, H. Beam Piper, Elizabeth Taylor, and Dick Francis. ... Read more

Book Description
Do people ever really grow up?The old devils in this book are just as they have always been, but trapped in a slowly aging body. It's like living in a house that needs repair, but the repairman never comes.

When Alun Weaver and his wife, Rhiannon, a famous beauty in her day, move into a quiet retirement community, they find it peopled by friends from former days. Suddenly all the ambitions and energies, overgrown like weeds with years, burst out afresh. In Amis' hands the results are predictably funny.

Amis received the Booker Prize, Britian's highest literary honor, in 1986 for THE OLD DEVILS. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Drinking Buddies' Dialogue is Wonderful
There is a secret humor within the confines of this book which I feel to be left out of - for instance how much different are the Welsh from the British and in what way? And, that premise, let alone others, is the thrust of this British satire dealing with four couples who pre-marital (and one post-marital) relationships make them at ease and ill at ease when they congregate long after their trysts, when their own children are the age they were when they sowed their wild oats.

Pub crawling, and honoring poets of Welsh ancestry, deliver dialogue between the husbands which Amis so artfully conjures, Over and over again, this book reminded me of McCall Smith's "44 Scotland Street" series in which people - like this book - meet and discuss topics of interest and occasionally run into folly or irony, and occasionally run into a scant argument. I must think that McCall Smith is influenced by this writer whose works predate his by decades.

Sometimes it feels trifling to be hanging out with the same people in a small town on all occasions. Amis cleverly distills this feeling with "You wonder why on earth you go, especially when you've got there and find it's exactly like it always is, and then you realize that's why you went."In small or large environs, we always know that your true good friends can be counted on the right hand's digits.

As the past lives entangle with the present, good and bad arises.Each character seems to be highly affected by the return of noted local poet Alun and temptress (in an ivory girl way) wife of local lore, Rhiannon. Their strolls down memory lane uncover memories which had been buried or not discussed for decades, and the resurrection often is invigorating. But, the invigorating event often prescribes other concepts - such as realization of age and mortal infirmities

Just for the dialogue, this book remarkably allows you to be the "fly on the wall" as the common and uncommon Welsh speak to one another in pubs, homes and elsewhere.You sense you know so much more about that little known land, even though little of that land is discussed or revealed. Instead, you witness their responses to daily events, and admire how they differently treat the same and seem less . . . less. . . belabored by "it all." This relaxed spirit is something which McCall Smith seems to deliver equally well.

If you like McCall Smith, you will like this book.If you like witty dialogue which humorously displays elders in the sunset years, again this is your book.It is fun on many accounts.

Sad and Funny- A Poignant, Worthwhile Read
This book is about everything-- How can you sum up life near the end?Is it possible to change, and if so, is it worth the bother? etc.It left me with shivers.It seemed an innocent, comic enough read at first, with devestating insights tossed casually in among descriptions of curmudgeonly drunkenness and inter-sexual miscommunication.By the end, it has turned into something else, a book about death and love imbued with humor.I found it much more meaningful and poignant in the end than Martin's postmodern gimmickry and suspect it will stay with me for some time.

What is it like to be old?
Kingsley famously is said to have never finished any of his son Martin's novels and even to have thrown one against the wall in exasperation.As a fan of both father and son, I have always thought that the reason was because Martin's prose is more colloquial and has more spontaneous energy than his father's, i.e. is more modern.Well, Old Devils shows me that Kingsley can be extremely colloquial, even rambling, while showing off his customary wit and rancor.You will grin and reread moments as you trek across Wales, learning what is it like to be old and full of regret.If you love Lucky Jim, try this.Otherwise, go to Lucky Jim first.

I hate it more than life itself
Say what you like about Martin Amis, at least he has a reader-friendly prose style. Which is more than can be said for Kingsley Amis. From a purely techno-linguistic viewpoint, the fic in question is unreadable. Ian Bell came up with a spot-on metaphor when he made mention of Kingsley's "paragraphs of oak". Heavy, unwieldy, boring as hell. It's the literary equivalent of Orson Welles sitting on your face for 294 pages.

rare is the book
Rare is the book that leaves one red-eyed with laughter. Rarer still the book that turns the same embarrassing trick (I try to avoid reading this book in public), after a dozen dog-eared readings.The aging Weavers,also-ran poet Alun and trophy-wife Rhiannon, return to a small Welshhornet's nest after fair-to-middling success in London. Rakish Alun, withenough of his hair left to engender envy, but lacking the stature thatwould safely have hoisted him above the slings and arrows of envy'ssnipery, is asking for it. Kingsley Amis (the millionaire's father),apparently as cynical a wit as ever there was, masters his prose as well ashe shepherds his readers' use of it, wise to the fact that no fool is halfso funny as a loved one. The reader is made to love the titular devils,logy duffers all, of "The Old Devils", giving the lie to the veryconcept of so-called "identity fiction" (i.e.: WASPS preferreading about WASPS; Gay Blacks about Gay Blacks). These doddering Welshcranks could hardly be less like this particular reader, but Amis fitstheir false teeth in my mouth and wedges their swollen ankles into my shoeswith clubby, back-patting authority. Peer through his microscope into thisacre or two of Wales and you will be jarred with a salutary sight: life aswe know it. He was an old enough devil himself to pull the trick off. (Thatthere also seem present autiographical clues to Amis' own less-than-placidsecond marriage is beneath our concern, correct?) ... Read more