I have in my possession, courtesy of Penguin Classics, three very big, very beautiful hardback copies of the newly published Complete Stories by Kingsley Amis. Expensive too, they retail at £25 each – but you can win one free.
I hardly need introduce Kinglsey to erudite Dabblers, but his short stories are probably his least well-known works (in fact he considered himself a poet first and a novelist second). There are 24 stories here, spanning genres including war, mystery and even science-fiction, where drunken time-travellers feature heavily. There’s also a wickedly funny attack on social workers. Everything Kingsley-lovers love about his prose is present and correct: the vivid character-sketches, the pinpoint prose and, beneath the hard jokes, a deep and warm understanding of human nature. And, unusually, I must mention the cover – a quite stunning portrait by Jonathan Burton.
In a review for the Spectator, Philip Hensher praised “the startling impromptu left-hand display of these stories” and added “even though they make quite a bulky volume, I was very sorry there weren’t still more of them.”
How to win a copy
We have two copies of Kinglsey Amis’ Complete Stories to give away to the Dabbler Book Club. If you’re already a member, you will be automatically entered into the draw and don’t need to anything. Otherwise just sign up below. The winners will be drawn at random on Monday 22 August
An additional copy is set aside for members of the League of Dabblers, who have a much greater chance of winning. You can join the League here.
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