Martin Amis death: Distinguished novelist & son of celebrated author Sir Kingsley Amis, dies aged 73
Martin Amis, a distinguished author known for literary classics such as Money and London Field, has died aged 73. The Oxford-born writer died at his home in Lake Worth in Florida after a battle with cancer of the oesophagus, his wife Isabel Fonseca confirmed.
Born in 1949, Amis attended schools in Britain, Spain and the US, before graduating from Exeter College, Oxford, with first-class honours in English. He published his first novel, The Rachel Papers, in 1973 while he was working as an editorial assistant at the Times Literary Supplement.
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Hide AdAt the age of 21, he became the literary editor of the New Statesmen and then a feature writer for The Observer, before turning toward his third novel, Success. As the son of celebrated author Sir Kingsley Amis, Martin was surrounded by literature growing up and even credited his step-mother Elizabeth Jane Howard for reigniting his love for writing.
Money, London Fields and The Information, which are commonly referred to as the London trilogy and are often cited as his most acclaimed novels. His more recent contributions include The Zone of Interest in 2014 and Inside Story in 2020.
The Booker Prize tweeted: “We are saddened to hear that Martin Amis, one of the most acclaimed and discussed novelists of the past 50 years, has died. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Amis developed a close friendship with journalist Christopher Hitchens with the pair part of a cohort of writers that defined the 1980s literary culture. Amis married American-Uruguayan writer Isabel Fonseca in 1996 and the pair went on to have two daughters.
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