Kingsley Amis

(1922 - 1995)

Kingsley Amis entered Oxford University in 1941—quickly becoming friends with Philip Larkin and joining the Communist Party—served in World War II, and in 1954 published Lucky Jim, considered one of the first and finest campus novels. He became known for his comic sense, social satire, and prolificacy. Amis once declared, “Never despise a drink because it is easy to make and/or uses commercial mixes. Unquestioning devotion to authenticity is, in any department of life, a mark of the naive—or worse.”