In His New Collection, ‘The Rub of Time,’ Martin Amis Takes On Everyone From Travolta to Trump

I wondered if the reviewer had misquoted Amis, but I find that the famous novelist did indeed write, "I haven't massaged my political prophecies, which tend, as is usual with such things, to be instantly dismayed by events." He might have been "dismayed" when his prophecies were shown to be erroneous, but the prophecies themselves would be unable to experience any emotion.

If not hereditary, then cousinage? Angela Thirkell was a first cousin once removed to Rudyard Kipling, something she was never known to trumpet, but which was trumpeted about her. Her little revenge may have been a novel written about a boatload of demobbed Anzacs returning home from the Great War, "Trooper to the Southern Cross". Not only evincing an understanding of men in uniform better than her cousin, but more hilarious than anything he ever wrote. Barry Humphries' favorite novel. https://reading19001950.wordpress.com/2017/02/14/trooper-to-the-southern...

Amis has a line in The Information: "if you are reading this a thousand years from now..." which ought to be listed in the Guinness Book of Records under greatest expressions of self adulation ever uttered and then printed. Amis always entertains, yet, like Trump, a fellow narcissist par excellence, also always extracts a payment.

“the only hereditary novelist in the Anglophone literary corpus”? Let's not forget Rudyard Kipling's whimsical assertion about Jane Austen's "only begotten son, 'Enery James." Cheers--Harriet

I have read some of the work of Martin Amis (have not read this book). What a beautifully written and enlightening review by A.O. Scott. The last paragraph is stunningly true.

Heredity is overrated. Once when Amis the son was on the BBC pushing his new novel, cigar smoke drifted in from stage left (it was the 70's). The cigar smoke traced back to Amis the father who had been brought in to present a critique. Actions do speak louder than words sometimes.

Another well-known and well-regarded "hereditary novelist in the Anglophone literary establishment" would be Kiran Desai, daughter of Anita Desai. Or do women really not count?

I loved reading this book review and tears squirted out of my eyes because of it. You can't make this stuff up? But obviously, someone can and someone has, and it is A. O. Scott who has. Grateful too, because I learned of Mr. Scott's new book of essays on art criticism, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. (The issue for me is whether to go digital with a download or have a copy of the book, but one thing is for certain.) I must read the book, Mr. Scott's book that is. I am an artist who is also very interested in art, cultural criticism and why not get it from someone at the pinnacle of knowledge on the subject? A drawback for me after flitting over to Amazon to read the Look Inside of "Better Living Through Criticism," well, I now have to flit in and fit into my activities of today, and do research on the the author, specifically, A. O. Scott. I owe it all to the New York Times, now don't I? I'm just saying, I am grateful and that I love you for this introduction, because when I think about it. When was the last time I so passionately wanted to buy and read any book whatsoever. I simply do not have time to read for pleasure, except that I will find the time to do just that when I have Mr. Scott's exhilarating book in my hot little hands. On a side note, I met Mr. Amis in passing, years ago, when I lived in downtown Brooklyn. It was a sunny day in summer and Mr. Amis stood out as intense and disheveled looking. Wish I had time to read his book too. :(

Is it true Kingley Amis penned a James Bond novel? I do believe so. DD Manhattan

I, too, loved Lucky Jim. But I'm coming to love AO's writing more and more. This is a wonderful essay, giving suitable respect to the lesser Amis while outclassing him in genuine (i.e. non-snarky) criticism.

While the quality of his fiction writing has sadly deteriorated since "Yellow Dog" (2003), it's good to see that Amis can still manage to earn praise for his essays, etc.

I am far from a literary historian, but I seriously doubt Martin Amis is "the only hereditary novelist in the Anglophone literary corpus." On the other hand, from this essay, he clearly inherited something from his Da.

I am always struck by the way in which Martin Amis has taken to striking a deliberately serious-looking attitude in photographs of himself. This is perhaps redolent of the way in which comedy has slipped from his grasp.

I too love Saul Bellow. But he isn't in the same category as Nabokov, whose greatness increases with time. And if Amis thinks Nabokov "insufficiently honored the innocence...of 12-year old girls," he needs to read "Lolita" again.

Lovely review. I've enjoyed reading Amis over the years. And thanks for calling Amis out on the Corbyn criticism. What Amis derided as "uncool" is actually what young people these days find inspiring, even "cool". And yes, I'll be reading the book for the essay on Larkin. Looking forward to it. Thanks for the tip.

The only hereditary novelist in the Anglophone literary corpus? My English Lit. is a little rusty, but I seem to remember a couple of writers named Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.

I have enjoyed reading AO Scott for years. As in the movies he reviews,the quality of his literary criticism often eclipses the subject matter of his focus. Martin Amis however, is brilliant, and his writing is as keen as his observation.

The Sycophant's Ball. Now accepting tickets from all interested parties. Must be white, male, losing a good deal of your hair and remain convinced that conservative men (hello, Saul!) have the most important things to say. Attendance expected to be sparse, but don't worry. The bar is open.

What a wonderful review, by which I mean judicious, well-written. I never fail to read Scott's film reviews and will now seek him out in the Books section. Thank you, Mr. Scott.

I got very stressed out in college studying chemistry and physics. I repaired to the library lounge and found a book of nonfiction by Dick Cavett. Cavett recommended Nabokov. Bellow won the Pulitzer Prize "for the pullets." Shortly thereafter I saw Bellow several times on Cavett's PBS television program. Thus, Nabokov and Bellow became my twin peaks by means of serendipity and Cavett. That I have the same taste as Martin Amis pleases me. Thank you, Dick. However, after my Cavett education most fiction pales in comparison, and I end up throwing volumes into the pale fire of the incinerator.

Well now, Mr. Scott, I enjoyed that. Thank you. How much Martin Amis have I read? Virtually nothing. I am writing to put in a plug for his FATHER--and my! the relations between these two gifted men must have been pretty fraught. They WERE pretty fraught, I guess--the young Mr. Amis has recalled helping his drunken father out of a pub--and watching the old man throwing up in the street. A painful memory. But read Kingsley Amis' classic novel, "Lucky Jim." I think it may be the most unspeakably funny book in the language. "Oh quite quite," says Jim Dixon (an young lecturer in a provincial British university). "His lips beginning to shake." He is talking to an enormously intelligent undergraduate who means to take a course under Dixon. Dixon privately resolves to make that course as unavailable as he possibly can. Oh on and on it goes! We use the phrase "laugh aloud funny." Reading "Lucky Jim", you will find yourself laughing uncontrollably. But hey! Gotta try the son sometime. Sounds good. And by the way--I share his qualms about "Lolita." Brilliant writing? Not a doubt. But I picked it up a while back with a view to rereading it. . . . . . .and then I put it down. "Honoring the innocence of twelve year old girls"? Absolutely!

Good to hear his version of what made him popular as a subject for the British tabloids back in the day -- his novels and his enraged opinions are far from compelling.