Booker Prize Winner

The Old Devils

by Kingsley Amis

Summary

In a small Welsh town, a group of long-married couples have their boozy routines disturbed when an old friend returns from England with his glamorous wife in tow. Amis writes with merciless comic timing about ageing, jealousy and the shrinking horizons of late middle life, while letting genuine tenderness flicker beneath the bile. The book is widely regarded as the late masterpiece of one of postwar Britain's most influential satirists.

Historical Context & Significance

This win was seen as a 'lifetime achievement' award for one of Britain's most famous novelists.