Editing Anthony Burgess (section)

=== Brunei ===
[[File:Sultan Ismail Petra Arch, Kota Bharu.jpg|thumb|Burgess was an education officer at the Malay Teachers' Training College 1955 and 1958.]]
After a brief period of leave in Britain during 1958, Burgess took up a further Eastern post, this time at the [[Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien College]] in [[Bandar Seri Begawan]], Brunei. Brunei had been a British protectorate since 1888, and was not to achieve independence until 1984. In the sultanate, Burgess sketched the novel that, when it was published in 1961, was to be entitled ''[[Devil of a State]]'' and, although it dealt with Brunei, to avoid libel the action had to be transposed to an imaginary East African territory similar to [[Zanzibar]], named [[Dunya|Dunia]]. In his autobiography ''[[Little Wilson and Big God]]'' (1987), Burgess wrote:<ref>Burgess, Anthony (2012), [https://books.google.com/books?id=yeQ9wr5SrmgC&pg=PA431 ''Little Wilson and Big God''], Anthony Burgess, Random House, p. 431.</ref>
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This novel was, is, about Brunei, which was renamed [[Naraka]], Malay-Sanskrit for "hell". Little invention was needed to contrive a large cast of unbelievable characters and a number of interwoven plots. Though completed in 1958, the work was not published until 1961, for what it was worth it was made a choice of the book society. [[Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]], my publisher, was doubtful about publishing it: it might be libellous. I had to change the setting from Brunei to an East African one. Heinemann was right to be timorous. In early 1958, ''The Enemy in the Blanket'' appeared and at once provoked a libel suit.
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About this time, Burgess collapsed in a Brunei classroom while teaching history and was diagnosed as having an inoperable brain tumour.<ref name=HRC /> Burgess was given just a year to live, prompting him to write several novels to get money to provide for his widow.<ref name=HRC /> He gave a different account, however, to [[Jeremy Isaacs]] in a ''[[Face to Face (British TV series)|Face to Face]]'' interview on the BBC ''[[The Late Show (BBC TV series)|The Late Show]]'' (21 March 1989). He said "Looking back now I see that I was driven out of the [[Colonial Service]]. I think possibly for political reasons that were disguised as clinical reasons".<ref>''Conversations with Anthony Burgess'' (2008) Ingersoll & Ingersoll ed. p.&nbsp;180.</ref> He alluded to this in an interview with Don Swaim, explaining that his wife Lynne had said something "obscene" to the [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Duke of Edinburgh]] during an official visit, and the colonial authorities turned against him.<ref Name="Ingersol1512">''Conversations with Anthony Burgess'' (2008), Ingersoll & Ingersoll, pp.&nbsp;151–152.</ref><ref name="swaim">{{cite web |url=http://www.wiredforbooks.org/anthonyburgess/ |title=1985 interview with Anthony Burgess (audio) |publisher=Wiredforbooks.org |date=19 September 1985 |access-date=8 August 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811164114/http://www.wiredforbooks.org/anthonyburgess/ |archive-date=11 August 2011}}</ref> He had already earned their displeasure, he told Swaim, by writing articles in the newspaper in support of the revolutionary opposition party the [[Parti Rakyat Brunei]], and for his friendship with its leader [[A. M. Azahari|Dr. Azahari]].<ref Name="Ingersol1512" /><ref name="swaim" /> Burgess's biographers attribute the incident to the author's notorious [[mythomania]]. [[Geoffrey Grigson]] writes:<ref name=autogenerated1 />
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He was, however, suffering from the effects of prolonged heavy drinking (and associated poor nutrition), of the often oppressive south-east Asian climate, of chronic constipation, and of overwork and professional disappointment. As he put it, the scions of the sultans and of the élite in Brunei "did not wish to be taught", because the free-flowing abundance of oil guaranteed their income and privileged status. He may also have wished for a pretext to abandon teaching and get going full-time as a writer, having made a late start.
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