Order of Kingsley Amis Books
Kingsley Amis was a prolific author, poet, and critic who was considered to be one of the finest comic novelist of the twentieth century. The Times listed him ninth in their last of the 50 Greatest British Writers since 1945.
Amis went to the City of London School as well as St. John’s college, Oxford. His study was interrupted by World War II, where he served as a lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals. He is best known for his first novel, Lucky Jim, and its classic anti-hero Jim Dixon. Amis died in October of 1995 at the age of 73.
Publication Order of Jim Dixon Books
| Lucky Jim | (1954) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| That Uncertain Feeling | (1955) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| I Like it Here | (1958) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Lucky Jim's Politics. | (1968) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Patrick Standish and Jenny Bunn Books
| Take a Girl Like You | (1960) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Difficulties with Girls | (1988) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Spectrum Books
(with Robert Conquest)
| Spectrum I | (1961) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Spectrum II | (1962) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Spectrum III | (1963) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Spectrum IV | (1965) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of James Bond (Extended) Books
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| Bright November | (1947) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Frame of Mind | (1953) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Case of Samples | (1956) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Look Around the Estate | (1967) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Collected Poems, 1944-1979 | (1979) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Collected Short Stories | (1980) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Pleasure of Poetry | (1990) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Mr. Barrett's Secret and Other Stories | (1993) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Complete Stories | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
Publication Order of Anthologies
| The Faber Popular Reciter | (1921) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Writing in America | (1962) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Five-Odd / Possible Tomorrows | (1964) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Spectrum IV | (1965) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Best of British SF 2 | (1977) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The New Oxford Book of Light Verse | (1978) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Right Turn: Eight Men Who Changed Their Minds | (1978) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Best for Winter | (1979) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Golden Age of Science Fiction | (1981) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories | (1987) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Amis Anthology | (1988) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Little Book of Horrors: Tiny Tales of Terror | (1992) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Amis Story Anthology | (1992) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Young Oxford Book of Nightmares | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
If You Like Kingsley Amis Books, You’ll Love…
The novel that Amis is best known for is Lucky Jim. This book follows Jim Dixon as a hapless medieval professor at a university. His story of trying to hold onto this job that he’s not good at and pursuing the girlfriend of a senior professor’s son make up the plot, but they often take a backseat to the pure humor and crazy situations that Jim puts himself in throughout the novel. Despite being published over sixty years ago, the humor in this remains hilarious and the satire is scathing. Jim is a politically incorrect character and very much of his time.
Another classic Amis novel is Girl, 20. This one sees Amis turn his eye to the flower power era of the 1960s. Sir Roy Vandervane is a composer and conductor, a member of the high society, who falls in love with the 60s: bell bottoms, electric guitars, and protest. Vandervane has a taste for younger women and his target in this one is a highborn hippie named Sylvie who isn’t quite 20. The story is told by Douglas Yandell, a music critic and Roy’s much younger drinking buddy. This book is Amis at his best and most hilarious.