Writer Martin Amis dies at 73

Martin Amis (Swansea, United Kingdom, 1949), one of the most recognized and influential writers of recent years, the bad boy of British letters, the guy who never bit his tongue, has died at age 73 at his home in Lake Worth, Florida, United States, as this newspaper has been able to confirm by sources close to the family. His wife, Isabel Fonseca, has detailed that the cause of death was esophageal cancer.

Amis soon escaped the shadow of his father, the award-winning novelist Kingsley Amis – a central figure in his memoirs Experience and Koba – and rose to fame in the seventies, becoming part of a dazzling group of British authors including Julian Barnes, Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie and Christopher Hitchens.

He immediately stood out for his debut, El libro de Raquel, published in 1973 when he was 33 years old. Dead Children (1975), Success (1978) and Other People: A Mystery Story (1981) followed. Other outstanding works of his are Money (1984), Fields of London (1989), Information (1995), The arrow of time (1991), Night train (1998) or Experience (2000). One of his most repeated phrases is: "Literature is not necessary for life, but it is necessary for civilization."

In addition to novels, he frequented literary essays, which always stood out for their depth and brilliance. Martin Amis has the rare ability to arouse, in equal parts, enthusiastic support and virulent criticism.

Martin Amis photographed in Barcelona, on November 17, 1999.Carles Ribas

In an interview with EL PAÍS, he commented: "The greatest strength of our lives is to go towards greater democracy, social and cultural. You can't be aware of it when you're writing, although when I look at my early novels I still say, "Shit, how did I say that." Because it's offensive. But I would say that has a lot to do with being young, stupid and brave. Now I still say what I want. You certainly don't bow to people's religious views, none of that, but maybe you're a little more careful about who you offend."

Many times surrounded by controversy, the writer said in another interview with this newspaper: "Literature is already quite politicized, but writing about politics is like entering a river full of piranhas. Literature is a game. Politics is the real battle." Even so, he did not consider himself a dissident: "I only apply common sense, which has become subversive." The author of Money once commented that as a teenager he read little and almost always comics. Until his stepmother, the novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard, introduced him to Jane Austen, who was the one who encouraged him to read.

His latest work was published in 2021, Desde dentro, a heterodox novel where he uses his life as fictional material with ease and without consideration.