We've rounded up 20 great books we think everyone should read by 50

Classics-to-read-by-Age_50s_Desktop_Hero_Penguin.gif

Reading lists

20 books everyone should read in their fifties

Collected Poems

<a href="https://shop.penguin.co.uk/collections/book-bundles-modern-classics/?&amp;utm_source=Penguin.co.uk&amp;utm_medium=Linked_text&amp;utm_campaign=Penguin_Modern_Classics_Series_26_06">Choose 3 timeless classics for only £21 over on the Penguin Shop</a>

'One of the very best of our poets' Anthony Powell 
 
Kingsley Amis wrote poems throughout his life, turning his acerbic, bracing perceptiveness on the same subjects that fill his novels: lust, lost love, drink, money, God (seen as indifferent or malign), and old age. Collected Poems, arranged chronologically, shows the full range of his sparkling verse, by turns scabrous and melancholy, satirical and playful. 
 
'Scathingly funny ... bawdy and tragic, unflinching and unapologetic, culpable and morally acute ... Amis's poems rush headlong into the messiness of life' New Criterion 
 
'A contender for the title of the most accomplished and least self-satisfied poet of his generation' Clive James

Amis has no faults. He is clever, witty, ironical

'Bare-knuckled, witty, light but never 'lite', outward-looking instead of inward-gazing - a kind of red-blooded vers de société'

Kingsley Amis was born in south London in 1922 and was educated at the City of London School and St John's College, Oxford. After the sucess of Lucky Jim in 1954, Kingsley Amis wrote over twenty novels, including The Alteration (1976), winner of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award; The Old Devils (1986), winner of the Booker Prize; and The Biographer's Moustache (1995), which was to be his last book. He wrote ephemerally on politics, education, language, films, television, restaurants and drink. Kingsley Amis was awarded the CBE in 1981 and received a knighthood in 1990.

Although best known for his comic novels, Kingsley Amis wrote poetry throughout his career. Collected Poems spans subjects from nature and cricket to love, ageing and literature, brimming with his characteristic wit and irreverence, yet full of compassion. 'The Last War' brings home the futility of battle by portraying countries as flawed characters destined for misfortune, while 'Their Oxford' reflects on the passing of time, and in contrast the playful 'Sight Unseen' laments the difficulty of attracting women. By turns provocative and poignant, this collection provides an illuminating glimpse into the heart and mind of Amis.

Selected Non-fiction

The Amis Collection

'Amis has no faults. He is clever, witty, ironical' Guardian 
 
What advice can one give a green young author? What purpose do literary prizes serve? Where on earth can a man get a decent bite to eat? This entertaining collection is vintage Kingsley Amis, revealing him at his most robust and incisive, cutting a swathe through such subjects as writers and writing, 'Abroad', eating and drinking, music, language and education. He turns a clear and critical eye on Evelyn Waugh, Anthony Powell, Anthony Burgess, Ian Fleming and Philip Larkin, and does not spare their potential readers in 'Sod the Public: A Consumer's Guide'. In typically razor-sharp, wicked and witty prose, Amis tackles the culture and conceits of his era.

Kingsley Amis's (1922-95) works take a humorous yet highly critical look at British society, especially in the period following the end of World War II. Born in London, Amis explored his disillusionment in novels such as That Uncertain Feeling (1955). His other works include The Green Man (1970), Stanley and the Women (1984), and The Old Devils (1986), which won the Booker Prize. Amis also wrote poetry, criticism, and short stories.

What advice can one give a green young author? What purpose do literary prizes serve? Where on earth can a man get a decent bite to eat? This entertaining collection is vintage Kingsley Amis, revealing him at his most robust and incisive, cutting a swathe through such subjects as writers and writing, 'Abroad', eating and drinking, music, language and education. He turns a clear and critical eye on Evelyn Waugh, Anthony Powell, Anthony Burgess, Ian Fleming and Philip Larkin, and does not spare their potential readers in 'Sod the Public: A Consumer's Guide'. In typically razor-sharp, wicked and witty prose, Amis tackles the culture and conceits of his era.

Stanley And The Women

'A great storyteller, although he was much more than a storyteller' - Keith Waterhouse

Brought to you by Penguin. 
 
Just when Stanley Duke thinks it safe to sink into middle age, his son goes insane. As if that wasn't terrible enough, Stanley finds himself beset on all sides by women - neurotic, cantankerous, half-baked or just plain capricious. As one by one they gnaw away at his composure, Stanley wonders whether insanity is not something with which all women are intimately acquainted. 
 
© Kinglsey Amis 1984 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

He was a genuine comic writer, probably the best after P. G. Wodehouse ... He had a lasting influence and was a very good novelist

Kingsley Amis was born in south London in 1922 and was educated at the City of London School and St John's College, Oxford. After the publication of Lucky Jim in 1954, Kingsley Amis wrote over twenty novels, including The Alteration, winner of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, The Old Devils, winner of the Booker Prize in 1986, and The Biographer's Moustache, which was to be his last book. He also wrote on politics, education, language, films, television, restaurants and drink. Kingsley Amis was awarded the CBE in 1981 and received a knighthood in 1990. He died in October 1995.

Brought to you by Penguin. 
 
Just when Stanley Duke thinks it safe to sink into middle age, his son goes insane. As if that wasn't terrible enough, Stanley finds himself beset on all sides by women - neurotic, cantankerous, half-baked or just plain capricious. As one by one they gnaw away at his composure, Stanley wonders whether insanity is not something with which all women are intimately acquainted.

You Can't Do Both

'Has you moved to tears. Amis amazes at every turn - A masterpiece from a master' Mail on Sunday

Acutely and poignantly observed-there is still fire in the old devil's belly

As finely judged, as exactly observed, as vividly conceived as anything he has written

Funny, touching, well-constructed, sharply evocative of time and place and written with characteristic Amisian aplomb. It is a first class addition to his oeuvre

Brought to you by Penguin. 
 
Robin Davies knows how to look after number one. Raised in a bland suburb of South London in the 1930s, Robin longs for the freedom to do what he wants. When he escapes to study in Oxford, he meets Nancy Bennett, a young woman even less worldly than himself. As Robin stumbles through his rites of passage to adulthood, involving rebellion, self-discovery, sex, war, seduction and the threat of commitment, we come to realise just how far he will go to have his cake and eat it. 
 
©Kingsley Amis 1994 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

The Old Devils

A copy should be given out with every bus pass.

A brilliant novel. It is sadly comic and comically sad

A bloody funny lovely bloody book... A genius at full throttle

In these explicit days, Mr Amis is the laureate of the unsayable, the literary it man

Brought to you by Penguin. 
 
Malcolm, Peter and Charlie and their Soave-sodden wives have one main ambition left in life: to drink Wales dry. But their routine is both shaken and stirred when they are joined by professional Welshman Alun Weaver (CBE) and his wife, Rhiannon. 
 
© Kingsley Amis 1986 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Memoirs

Brought to you by Penguin. 
 
'Endlessly entertaining... Good, rollicking stuff, and a delight to read... Sir Kingsley Amis is surely one of the funniest men alive' Auberon Waugh, Sunday Telegraph 
 
Elegant, provocative and hugely entertaining, Kingsley Amis's memoirs are filled with anecdotes, experiences and portraits of famous friends, family, acquaintances (and a few eminent foes). From his childhood days to Oxford and army life, his travels abroad and his years as a successful novelist, Memoirs offers extraordinary insights into a unique literary life. 
 
© Kingsley Amis 1991 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Kingsley Amis

Christopher Cazenove

Gayle Hunnicutt

Iain Cuthbertson

Tom Watson

Freddie Jones

Peter Jeffrey

Ken Stott

Nigel Anthony

Anna Calder-Marshall

Alan Bennett

Robert Hardy

Full Cast

I Spy Strangers, I Want It Now, All Free Now based on Girl 20 and more

Adaptations of Kingley Amis’s great novels and acclaimed short stories 
 
Novelist, poet and critic Kingsley Amis was one of Britain’s greatest post-war writers. A master of comic fiction, he came to fame in 1954, and won the 1986 Booker Prize for The Old Devils. Included in this collection are dramatisations of seven of his short stories and two novels, all imbued with his characteristic wit and social satire. 
 
We begin with ‘To See the Sun’, a tantalising tale of vampires, a mad Scots librarian, a handsome Englishman and a Countess, set in 1920s Dacia. In ‘Moral Fibre’, a Welsh librarian tangles with a social worker determined to save a young girl from sin, while in ‘All the Blood Within Me’, Alec attends the funeral of the only woman he has ever loved: and faces some uncomfortable truths. Tensions run high in ‘I Spy Strangers’ as a group of soldiers in 1945 hold a mock parliament; poet A E Potter questions the value of his art in ‘Dear Illusions’ and in ‘Affairs of Death’, the confessions of the Scottish King Macbeth trouble the conscience of Pope Leo X. 
 
Set in the late ’60s, I Want It Now centres around ambitious TV personality Ronnie Appleyard, who pursues wealthy Simona Quick for her money, only to fall in love. And recently recovered in the BBC’s Treasure Hunt, ‘Something Strange’ features four inhabitants of a space capsule, who have unusual experiences to report. 
Based on Amis’s classic novel Girl, 20 and written by Tony Bilbow, All Free Now is a hilarious observation of the Sixties’ permissive society. 
 
Please note: I Want It Now is an archive dramatisation from 1977, and the language used reflects some of the attitudes of that time. Due to the archive nature of some of the pieces, the sound quality may vary. 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Kingsley Amis 
All Free Now written by Tony Bilbow, based on Kingsley Amis’s novel Girl, 20 
 
To See the Sun 
Cast: Christopher Cazenove, Gayle Hunnicutt, Graham Crowden, Alan Dudley, Jennifer Piercey, Zelah Clarke 
Dramatised by John Scotney 
Directed by Jane Morgan 
 
Moral Fibre 
Cast: Sion Tudor Owen, Julie Berry, Thelma Whiteley, Victoria Carling, Steve Hodson, Jennifer Piercey, Simon Cuff, Susan Sheridan 
Dramatised by John Scotney 
Directed by Jane Morgan 
 
All the Blood Within Me 
Cast: Tom Watson, David Sinclair, Mia Soteriou, Jonathan Tafler, Caroline Gruber, Jill Lidstone, Alan Dudley, Brian Hewlitt, Kim Hughes 
Dramatised by John Scotney 
Directed by Jane Morgan 
Piano: Mary Nash 
 
I Spy Strangers 
Cast: Iain Cuthbertson, Steve Hodson, Anthony Jackson, Philip Fox, Kim Wall, Michael Deacon, Paul Sirr, John Samson 
Dramatised by John Scotney 
Directed by Jane Morgan 
 
Dear Illusion 
Cast: Freddie Jones, Carolyn Pickles, Shaun Prendergast, Brian Hewitt, Alan Dudley, Michael Deacon 
Dramatised by John Scotney 
Directed by Jane Morgan 
 
Affairs of Death 
Cast: Peter Jeffrey, Ken Stott, Olivier Pierre, Kim Wall 
Dramatised by John Scotney 
Directed by Jane Morgan 
 
I Want It Now 
Cast: Nigel Anthony, David March, Irene Sutcliffe, Bruce Beeby, Anna Calder-Marshall, Margaret Robertson, William Fox, Alaric Cotter, Jonathan Scott, Penelope Reynolds, William Eedle, Heather Bell, Harry Towb, Harold Kasket, Rod Beacham, Michael Harbour 
Adapted by Frederick Bradnum 
Directed by Betty Davies 
 
Something Strange 
Cast: Noel Johnson, Garard Green, Nerys Hughes, Olive Gregg, Charlotte Mitchell, Frank Duncan, David Garth, Tom Watson, Brian Wilde and members of the BBC Drama Repertory Company 
Produced by Christopher Holme 
 
All Free Now 
Cast: Robert Stephens, Christopher Timothy, Eva Stuart, Geoffrey Whitehead, Kim Thomson, Anna Mazzotti, Okon Jones, Michael Graham Cox, Adrian Egan, Richard Pearce, Joan Walker, Michael Dean 
Produced by Matthew Walters 
 
Text copyright © The Estate of Kingsley Amis 1958 (‘Moral Fibre’), 1960 (‘Something Strange’), 1962 (‘All the Blood Within Me’, ‘I Spy Strangers’), 1968 (I Want It Now),1972 (‘Dear Illusion’), 1980 (‘To See the Sun’), 1982 (‘Affairs of Death’) 
All Free Now copyright © Tony Bilbow 1989 
 
© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Kingsley Amis

Books by Kingsley Amis

Articles featuring Kingsley Amis

20 books everyone should read in their fifties

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter