From: Floyd Scarabelli
Category: Amis
Date: 8/2/99
Time: 10:20:29 PM
Remote Name: 129.219.247.97
[Poster's note: The following piece is from *The Boston Globe*. March 25, 1990. Julie Clinch recently claimed that sex is important to Amis. Which turns out to be a regrettable fact because Amis confirms it in this very interview. Sex & tennis. Sex & tennis. What a frigging shallownik. Marian Christy used a buttload of exclamation-points when it came to transcribing Martin's comments. I took the liberty of replacing those exclamation-points with periods. Because the last thing I wanna do is have Martin Amis coming off like Jim Murphy on a Fruity Pebbles binge. Oh and please don't bother to respond to this post, Jimbolina, as I for one am sick of the exclamatory sugar-smack gush that you have hitherto brought to this forum.]
*A LITERARY STAR'S REASONS FOR ANGER* / BY MARIAN CHRISTY
Good things and terrible things are said about Martin Amis.
One of England's literary superstars, Amis, a compact man of Napoleonic size and attitude, has been called a genius, and some critics have even compared his work to that of Thomas Wolfe. The newest Amis novel, *London Fields*, just introduced in the United States, is already a best-seller in London.
But Amis has shown open contempt for the media and there have been retaliations from that source---and beyond.
- Television producers accuse him of "sneering" into the camera.
- Still photographers huff that he gazes at them with "crucifying stares".
- His father, famous British novelist Kingsley Amis, has been quoted as saying uncomplimentary things about his son's writing talent, stirring up visions of a public father-son rivalry.
- Norman Mailer has called him a "wimp".
- And Gore Vidal refers to him as "a cute little thing".
Here we are in Cambridge, at The Charles Hotel, having a nice little chat over lunch, and all I really want to know is how angry is this Angry Man? Does anger fuel his creativity? And is he mad about being called bad?
"Oh, I haven't been a bad boy for 20 years. But inasmuch as I have a public life, one buzzword, bad, continues to haunt me. I was a bachelor until my mid-30s. My youth and my early manhood took place in the '60s and the '70s. Everyone was into womanizing and arrogance. So was I. I chased women. Only I thought it was looking for love. I did drugs. But only on an average amount. I tried cocaine. I tried LSD. But only three or four times on each count. I never tried heroin.
"I'd have to check into a monastery for 30 years to have the image changed from 'bad' to 'good'.
"In England, I'm now considered an ex-bad boy who hasn't gone soft."
Amis, who was born in Oxford, England, is a 1971 graduate of Exeter College. He insists he's a courteous Englishman. But is he? After listening to his graphic choice of words, I questioned his anger in terms of egocentricity. Amis revealed he is angry about being 40 years old.
"Civility is important to me. Morality comes from manners. I don't behave like an egomaniac. But I'm an egomaniac about my work. I do want to be read. There's a lot of late-night brooding about my work. I want to be in the same pantheon as Homer and Dickens.
"When you're young, the universal illusion is that you are the exception to death. After 40, you feel like you've been dropped through a hole. You know exactly what's in store.
"Late-night brooding is painful. It comes in mental telegrams. The brooding is so powerful that you lose the ability to choose what you want to think about. It stops you from thinking about important things like tennis and sex.
"Yes, I have a haunting fear. Yes, I'm fearful and anxious about the aging process. The uncertain shape of life is a constant fear.
"We say: 'Look at that marvelous old person!' What we really mean is that the person appears not to be waddling in terror. But it's not like that. There's the terror of control or even loss of cerebral or physical functions. What we're seeing is an imitation of confidence. The aging are the bravest, most resolute of people.
"Death is similar to the time before you were born: You're nothing. But the prenatal state is better. You're not really a conscious human being before you're born. When you're dying, you're conscious of the fact that you're dying."
Amis says he isn't angry at his parents. Don't believe him. His father is twice divorced. His mother is married for the third time. His father lives in the same house that his mother shares with her present husband. "Weird set-up", Amis mutters.
"When I'm in my study, writing, of course I'm angry. My anger has to do with what human beings are really like. People treat each other vilely. They experience so little wonder about the joy of being alive together on the same planet.
"People don't show much of themselves to each other. A central fear is the fear of being seen through. That's everybody's fear. Everyone is frightened to be shown ignorant, even the most erudite people. That could be a terrible humiliation.
"My childhood wasn't loveless. I had a good childhood until I was 12. Then my parents were divorced, and then my world fell away.
"My parents had rows. But, until their marriage ended, it was a passionate marriage. It would have been worse to be in a household where the marriage was dead.
"Yes, my father has told the British press that he doesn't like my work. It was only painful the first time. Now it doesn't bother me at all. Some people think it's a deep wound. It isn't.
"Oh, I was surprised at first. But then I got the benefit of a lot of sympathy. I gained a following among people who said: 'My, it must be tough being the son of a writer.'
"Now I think that it's tough being the father of a writer. I hate seeing young writers coming up my flank. If my son were to become a writer, if he kept at it, I'd expect my reactionary feelings to be complicated and not just filial. It's hard to get older."
Amis is even angry that he's not as rich as he'd like to be.
"Money is the only serious subject people talk about. The question always is: 'How come if you're so smart, you're not rich?' Money is the only subject that doesn't stink. When the subject of money comes up, people say: 'Now you're talking.'" Amis is angry at photographers, at television producers and at people who enjoy themselves at cocktail parties.
"I hate being photographed. It's a primitive hatred. You've got nothing to do. You just look and be. You're on exhibit in an unpleasant way. Like the African savage, I think a photograph steals a bit of the soul. Anyway, photographers are self-important people. What they do doesn't matter.
"Of course I sneer on television. It has to do with the way I write. People don't escape ridicule in my novels. The characters are often treated harshly. According to the people who read my books, I sneer all the time---even in print. They even say that I sneer at fluffy white kittens.
"I like to talk to waiters at cocktail parties. I can't say to a guest: 'Excuse me. I want to talk to someone across the room.' I'm shy in a sneer-y way. So I ingratiate myself with the waiters."
Amis says he is very angry about the name-calling coming from his peers, but plans on having the last laugh.
"Jealousy? I think it's a humiliation to reveal one's jealousy. Mailer and Vidal are not jealous. Each man thinks he is the best.
"Their comments are all about rivalry. I can feel their rivalry. I'll tell you one thing. As I've gotten older, I mind more what the critics say. I mind even more what other writers say.
"I think real envy comes from people who can't write. Rivalry comes from your peers. I'm now writing a novel all about envy and rivalry."