MARTIN AMIS REJACKETS
An ongoing overhaul for Vintage paperbacks. Great fun to work, not least because I get to revisit those i’d previously read and catch up on the ones I’d somehow bypassed. In short:
Money: Frank the phone. But a gold phone like the one Edie gives to Andy Warhol for talking to God…
The Information: A failed writer insanely jealous of his long-time colleague’s success. There’s a devious plan, a whiff of plagiarism and a short-cut to revenge. The hoover appears in scenes that bookend the novel - a symbol of twisted domesticity.
Other People: A young woman wakes up in hospital with amnesia with nothing but her clothes and the contents of her handbag. A brutal trawl through London’s backstreets. Many thanks to artist and jeweller Mingze Zhang for creating this piece based on a work I saw in his final show at the Royal College. The London housebrick came from my garden and was ferried over to China in January.
Yellow Dog: Gangland, Hollywood, the Gutter Press, blackmail, brain injury, masculinity crises, plane crashes and a cocktail called a Dickhead. So naturally, a cigar hotdog.
The Pregnant Widow: the battle for superiority in the sexual revolution. Both sides looking to gain the upper hand, but at the same time can’t do without each other.
Success: Gregory the beautiful, foppish privileged brother. Terry, the adopted failure. In between, Ursula, the fucked-up sister and the centrepiece to the most bizarre love triangle.
The Rachel Papers: Charles Highway’s tissues (not because he has allergies, or cries a lot). A purposely vaginal box of tissues. The No/Yes refers to our hero’s on-off attempts to Rachel (who’s surname is Noyes).
Time’s Arrow: Quite simply, time flows backwards.
House of Meetings: Two brothers. One lover. Sex and redemption in the Gulag.
Dead Babies: Drugs, sex, pornography, drugs, unlimited booze, cars, obnoxious Americans, bad teeth, drugs, more sex and death. Absurd with wonderfully blacknhumour. All at Appleseed Rectory.
Night Train: It’s a whodunnit, of course.
London Fields: Nicola Sixx is to be murdered. It’s her tragic story. And there’s darts – all down at the Black Cross pub.
The Zone of Interest: The setting is Auschwitz III. Golo Thomsen is a well-connected administrator for IG Farben. Camp III’s purpose is to sustain industry. Is it possible to create engine oil out of the remains of the dead? Against this most dismal of backgrounds Thomsen has a doomed affair with the commandant’s wife Hannah. The matches illustrate this, and it is over an illicit cigarette where they meet. The box depicts a scene from Walpurgisnacht - the dreadful crescendo of the novel.
Lionel Asbo: Lottery numbers come up for the title character. He becomes the owner of two wretched bull terriers. The dog chewing it’s own tail seemed a fitting metaphor for Lionel – blowing his winnings in the most grotesque way…
It’s the only time I’ve ever been asked to image out a dog’s anus.
How to end a series…