Martin Amis

 

The passing of Martin Amis inspired me to read his celebrated novel Money -- and let me say at the start: it did not disappoint. This is one confident, consistent, jocular book: it moves with real speed, and its characters inhabit three dimensions. Amis had such a recognizable voice: his style was his own, and his language, his writing, proceeded with an unyielding pace. And more: Amis did not shy away: he wrote that he'd developed a "high style for low things," and he never apologized for this. Money is full of lurid behavior, of alcoholism and pornography. Taken together, these things emerge as a universe of fun, but also of regret, of sorrow, and of pain. Money is the story of pretended wealth laid bare: it is about the fascination with money, and its magnetic quality. Yes, there are parts of Money which offend modern sentiments. But does that make it less of a novel, less of an achievement? Certainly not. Money is a full-throttle adventure through the excesses of New York and London at the start of the 1980s. This is Bellow made modern: it is a novel that has as much to say about the wealthy as about the poor. It is a book about dignity and confidence, and the role that money plays in both. I was gripped by this novel and count it as my favorite of the Amis novels.