Collected Poems

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Summary

'One of the very best of our poets' Anthony Powell

Kingsley Amis wrote poems throughout his life, turning his acerbic, bracing perceptiveness on the same subjects that fill his novels: lust, lost love, drink, money, God (seen as indifferent or malign), and old age. Collected Poems, arranged chronologically, shows the full range of his sparkling verse, by turns scabrous and melancholy, satirical and playful.

'Scathingly funny ... bawdy and tragic, unflinching and unapologetic, culpable and morally acute ... Amis's poems rush headlong into the messiness of life' New Criterion

'A contender for the title of the most accomplished and least self-satisfied poet of his generation' Clive James

Reviews

Amis has no faults. He is clever, witty, ironical
Guardian

About the author

Kingsley Amis

Kingsley Amis's (1922-1995) works take a humorous yet highly critical look at British society, especially in the period following the end of the Second World War. Born in London, Amis explored his disillusionment in novels such as That Uncertain Feeling (1955). His other works include The Green Man (1970), Stanley and the Women (1984), and The Old Devils (1986), which won the Booker Prize. Amis also wrote poetry, criticism and short stories. He received a knighthood in 1990.

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