Editing Martin Amis (section)

===2010s and 2020s===
In 2010, after a period of writing, rewriting, editing, and revision dating back to 2003, "by far the longest writing-time of all [his] books",<ref name="ChatfieldProspect"/> Amis published ''[[The Pregnant Widow]]'', a long novel concerned with the [[sexual revolution]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Tim |title=Review: The Pregnant Widow by Martin Amis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/31/pregnant-widow-martin-amis-review |access-date=23 May 2023 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=31 January 2010 |archive-date=16 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616131543/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/31/pregnant-widow-martin-amis-review |url-status=live }}</ref> Its title is based on a quote from [[Alexander Herzen]]: "The death of the contemporary forms of social order ought to gladden rather than trouble the soul. Yet what is frightening is that what the departing world leaves behind it is not an heir but a pregnant widow. Between the death of the one and the birth of the other, much water will flow by, a long night of chaos and desolation will pass."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Pregnant Widow: Amazon.co.uk: Martin Amis: 9780224076128: Books|id={{ASIN|0224076124|country=uk}} {{ASIN|0224076124|country=uk}}}}</ref>

The first public reading of the then just completed version of ''The Pregnant Widow'' occurred on 11 May 2009 as part of the Norwich and Norfolk festival.<ref name="writerscentrenorwich.org.uk">Katy Carr (11 May 2009). [http://www.writerscentrenorwich.org.uk/Content1161.aspx "Amis reads ''The Pregnant Widow''] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121225040656/http://www.writerscentrenorwich.org.uk/Content1161.aspx |date=25 December 2012}}</ref> At this reading, according to the coverage of the event for the [[Writers' Centre Norwich]] by Katy Carr, "the writing shows a return to comic form, as the narrator muses on the indignities of facing the mirror as an ageing man, in a prelude to a story set in Italy in 1970, looking at the effect of the sexual revolution on personal relationships. The sexual revolution was the moment, as Amis sees it, that love became divorced from sex. He said he started to write the novel autobiographically, but then concluded that real life was too different from fiction and difficult to drum into novel shape, so he had to rethink the form."<ref name="writerscentrenorwich.org.uk"/>

The story is set in a castle owned by a cheese tycoon in [[Campania]], Italy, where Keith Nearing, a 20-year-old English literature student; his girlfriend, Lily; and her friend, Scheherazade, are on holiday during the hot summer of 1970, the year that Amis says "something was changing in the world of men and women".<ref name=Long>{{cite news |last=Long |first=Camilla |title=Martin Amis and the sex war |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6996980.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=24 January 2010 |access-date=29 August 2012 |archive-date=24 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524183343/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6996980.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kemp |first=Peter |title=The Pregnant Widow by Martin Amis |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article7004587.ece |newspaper=The Sunday Times |date=31 January 2010 |access-date=29 August 2012 |archive-date=16 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616131544/https://www.the-tls.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The narrator is Keith's [[superego]], or conscience, in 2009. Keith's sister, Violet, is based on Amis's own sister, [[Sally Amis|Sally]], described by Amis as one of the revolution's most spectacular victims.<ref>{{cite news |last=Flood |first=Alison |title=Martin Amis says new novel will get him 'in trouble with the feminists' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/20/martin-amis-novel-feminists-sister |newspaper=The Guardian |date=20 November 2009 |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=21 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521051621/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/20/martin-amis-novel-feminists-sister |url-status=live }}</ref>

Published in a whirl of publicity the likes of which Amis had not received for a novel since the publication of ''The Information'' in 1995, ''The Pregnant Widow'' was met by searing criticism, accusations of sexism, and guessing the real-world identity of its characters.<ref name="Cole2010">{{cite news |last=Cole |first=Olivia |title=England's Punching Bag: Martin Amis |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/englands-punching-bag-martin-amis |access-date=24 May 2023 |work=The Daily Beast |year=2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411115840/https://www.thedailybeast.com/englands-punching-bag-martin-amis |archive-date=11 April 2021}}</ref> Despite a vast amount of coverage, some positive reviews, and a general expectation that Amis's time for recognition had come, the novel was overlooked for the [[2010 Man Booker Prize]] longlist. In 2010, Martin Amis was named ''[[GQ]]'' writer of the year.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 March 2012 |title=The winners |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/gallery/gq-men-of-the-year-2010-winners |access-date=23 May 2023 |website=British GQ |language=en-GB |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709190155/https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/gallery/gq-men-of-the-year-2010-winners |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2012 Amis published ''[[Lionel Asbo: State of England]]''. The novel is centred on the lives of Desmond Pepperdine and his uncle Lionel Asbo, a voracious lout and persistent convict; for the benefit of his US readers, Amis explained the [[Anti-social behaviour order|origin of the latter's surname]] in an interview with [[NPR]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The 'State Of England' Is Grim In 'Lionel Asbo' |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/08/19/158949192/the-state-of-england-is-grim-in-lionel-asbo |access-date=23 May 2023 |publisher=NPR |date=16 August 2012 |archive-date=16 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616131544/https://www.npr.org/2012/08/19/158949192/the-state-of-england-is-grim-in-lionel-asbo |url-status=live }}</ref> It is set against the fictional borough of Diston Town, a grotesque version of modern-day Britain under the reign of celebrity culture, and follows the dramatic events in the lives of both characters: Desmond's gradual erudition and maturing; and Lionel's fantastic lottery win of almost £140&nbsp;million. Much to the interest of the press, Amis announced that the character of Lionel Asbo's eventual girlfriend, the ambitious glamour model and poet "Threnody" (quotation marks included), had been created to honour the British celebrity [[Jordan (Katie Price)|Jordan]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Burchill |first=Julie |author-link=Julie Burchill |title=Amis and Jordan – a marriage made only in his overheated imagination |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/columnists/julie-burchill/julie-burchill-amis-and-jordan-ndash-a-marriage-made-only-in-his-overheated-imagination-2085827.html |access-date=23 May 2023 |work=The Independent |date=22 September 2010 |archive-date=16 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616131544/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/columnists/julie-burchill/julie-burchill-amis-and-jordan-ndash-a-marriage-made-only-in-his-overheated-imagination-2085827.html |url-status=live }}</ref> whom he had a few years earlier summed up as "two bags of silicone".<ref>{{cite news |last=Edelstein |first=Jean Hannah |title=Martin Amis's problem is not Katie Price, but women |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/oct/28/martin-amis-katie-price-women |access-date=23 May 2023 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 October 2009 |archive-date=16 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616131545/https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/oct/28/martin-amis-katie-price-women |url-status=live }}</ref> In an interview with ''[[Newsnight]]''{{'}}s [[Jeremy Paxman]], Amis said the novel was "not a frowning examination of England" but a comedy based on a "fairytale world", adding that ''Lionel Asbo: State of England'' was not an attack on the country, insisting he was "proud of being English" and viewed the nation with affection.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18436829|title=Martin Amis: We lead the world in decline|work=BBC News|date=14 June 2012|access-date=20 June 2018|archive-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925155642/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18436829|url-status=live}}</ref> Reviews, once again, were mixed.

Amis's 2014 novel ''[[The Zone of Interest (novel)|The Zone of Interest]]'' concerns the [[Holocaust]], his second work of fiction to tackle the subject after ''[[Time's Arrow (novel)|Time's Arrow]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/9282488/Hay-Festival-2012-Martin-Amis-over-60-and-under-appreciated.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/9282488/Hay-Festival-2012-Martin-Amis-over-60-and-under-appreciated.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Hay Festival 2012: Martin Amis: over-60 and under-appreciated|date=10 June 2012|work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstribune.com/news/2012/sep/14/amis-america-talk-british-author/|title=Amis in America: A talk with the British author|first=Hillel|last=Italie|date=14 September 2023|work=newstribune.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129200942/http://www.newstribune.com/news/2012/sep/14/amis-america-talk-british-author/|archive-date=29 January 2013}}</ref> In it, Amis endeavoured to imagine the social and domestic lives of the Nazi officers who ran the death camps, and the effect their indifference to human suffering had on their general psychology. It was shortlisted for the 2015 [[Walter Scott Prize]] for historical fiction<ref>{{cite web |title=2015 Shortlist announced |url=https://www.walterscottprize.co.uk/2015-shortlist-announced/ |website=Walter Scott Prize |access-date=22 May 2023 |date=24 March 2015 |archive-date=26 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326174509/http://www.walterscottprize.co.uk/2015-shortlist-announced/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[The Zone of Interest (film)|a 2023 film]], "loosely based" on the novel, premiered to acclaim at the [[2023 Cannes Film Festival]], winning the [[Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)|Grand Prix]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Sharf |first=Zack |date=19 May 2023 |title=A24's Nazi Drama 'Zone of Interest' Is a Cannes Sensation With 6-Minute Standing Ovation |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/news/the-zone-of-interest-cannes-standing-ovation-nazi-1235618840/ |access-date=21 May 2023 |website=Variety |language=en-US |archive-date=26 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526194955/https://variety.com/2023/film/news/the-zone-of-interest-cannes-standing-ovation-nazi-1235618840/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=27 May 2023 |title=Grand prix - THE ZONE OF INTEREST by Jonathan GLAZER |url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/medialibrary/grand-prix-the-zone-of-interest-by-jonathan-glazer/ |access-date=28 May 2023 |website=Festival de Cannes |language=en-US |archive-date=28 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528111548/https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/medialibrary/grand-prix-the-zone-of-interest-by-jonathan-glazer/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 2016, Amis announced two new projects. The first, a collection of journalism, titled ''[[The Rub of Time|The Rub of Time: Bellow, Nabokov, Hitchens, Travolta, Trump. Essays and Reportage, 1986–2016]]'', was published in October 2017.<ref name="Kean-2016">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/dec/07/martin-amis-working-on-novel-about-christopher-hitchens-saul-bellow-and-philip-larkin|title=Martin Amis working on novel about Christopher Hitchens, Saul Bellow and Philip Larkin|first=Danuta|last=Kean|date=7 December 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=13 January 2017|archive-date=16 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616131546/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/dec/07/martin-amis-working-on-novel-about-christopher-hitchens-saul-bellow-and-philip-larkin|url-status=live}}</ref> The second project, a new untitled novel which Amis was working on, was an autobiographical novel about three key literary figures in his life: the poet [[Philip Larkin]], American novelist [[Saul Bellow]], and noted public intellectual [[Christopher Hitchens]].<ref name="Kean-2016" /> In an interview with [[livemint.com]], Amis said of the novel-in-progress, "I'm writing an autobiographical novel that I've been trying to write for 15 years. It's not so much about me, it's about three other writers – a poet, a novelist and an essayist ... and since I started trying to write it, Larkin died in 1985, Bellow died in 2005, and Hitch died in 2011, and that gives me a theme, death, and it gives me a bit more freedom, and fiction is freedom. It's hard going but the one benefit is that I have the freedom to invent things. I don't have them looking over my shoulder anymore."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/5zJiX0HYDYnfbZWwDEIi8H/A-conversation-with-Martin-Amis.html|title=A conversation with Martin Amis|first=Tishani|last=Doshi|website=Mint|date=2 December 2016|access-date=13 January 2017|archive-date=16 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116145719/http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/5zJiX0HYDYnfbZWwDEIi8H/A-conversation-with-Martin-Amis.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The finished product, ''[[Inside Story (novel)|Inside Story]]'' – his first novel in six years – was published in September 2020.<ref name="penguin.co.uk">{{Cite web|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/feb/martin-amis-inside-story/|title=Martin Amis' new autobiographical novel 'Inside Story' will be his 'most intimate and epic work to date'|date=12 February 2020|publisher=Penguin|access-date=22 February 2020|archive-date=22 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222193015/https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/feb/martin-amis-inside-story/|url-status=live}}</ref>