1958: Monitor - Kingsley Amis

Huw Wheldon introduces this report from writer and critic Simon Raven, who travels to Swansea to converse with Kingsley Amis at the university where he teaches. In this genial interview, Amis recalls his most famous character, Jim Dixon, the protagonist of 'Lucky Jim', and discusses his subsequent writing career, including the novel on which he is currently working (published as 'Take a Girl Like You').

Amis met Philip Larkin in 1941, when they both went up to St John's College, Oxford, to read English. They quickly established a close friendship that lasted throughout their lives (in 1985, Amis gave the address at Larkin's funeral) and had a profound influence on their literary careers.

BBC Archive: Originally broadcast 2 February 1958.