" It is a man's duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of life. "
— Henry Ward Beecher
Kingsley Amis | First Editions
1922 - 1995
Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. Amis produced more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, and also dabbled in social and literary criticism.
Amis' biographer,, Zachary Leader, has described the author as "the finest English comic novelist of the second half of the twentieth century." Moreover, Amis lectured in science fiction (a passion since boyhood), and is responsible for coining the term "comic inferno" to describe 'humorous dystopias'. Amis is the focus of international literary acclaim; in 2008, The Times ranked Kingsley Amis ninth on their list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.
See below our stock of Kingsley Amis First Editions, fine bindings, and signed copies.
Results 1 - 20 (of 20)
The Darkwater Hall Mystery.
Edinburgh: The Tragara Press, 1978. Limited edition. Number 67 of 165 copies. 8vo. Illustrated by Elspeth Sojka. Bound in publisher's original marbled card wraps. Fine with trifling edgewear. Internally clean and bright, a very pretty copy of a scarce piece of Sherlockiana. More about The Darkwater Hall Mystery
The Book Of Bond, Or Every Man His Own 007 (Writing as Bill Tanner)
London: Jonathan Cape, 1965. FIRST EDITION. Small octavo (18 x 14cm). Publisher's black cloth, gilt endpapers. Illustrated throughout. With Raymond Hawkey-designed 'reversible' book-jacket for work in the field; the pictorial dust-wrapper can be rapidly disguised as a bible. A near fine copy in similar jacket. An unusual piece of Bondiana... More about The Book Of Bond, Or Every Man His Own 007 (Writing as Bill Tanner
The Book Of Bond, Or Every Man His Own 007 (Writing as Bill Tanner).
London: Pan Books, 1966. [Bond reference] FIRST PAPERBACK EDITION. Octavo (18 x 12cm), pp.111; [9], endmatter and advertisements. Bound in pictorial card covers designed by Raymond Hawkey, priced at 3/6. Lightly handled only; a near fine copy. Bill Tanner is a fictional character in the James Bond novel series, who... More about The Book Of Bond, Or Every Man His Own 007 (Writing as Bill Tanner
The Book Of Bond, Or Every Man His Own 007 (Writing as Bill Tanner).
London: Pan Books, 1966. [Bond reference] FIRST PAPERBACK EDITION. Octavo (18 x 12cm), pp.111; [9], endmatter and advertisements. Bound in pictorial card covers designed by Raymond Hawkey, priced at 3/6. Discreet owner name to inside cover, marginal soiling, covers lightly rubbed; very good indeed. Bill Tanner is a fictional character... More about The Book Of Bond, Or Every Man His Own 007 (Writing as Bill Tanner
Jake's Thing.
London: Hutchinson and Co., 1978. [Modern Literature] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.285 [3]. Publisher's blue cloth with silver titles to spine, dust jacket illustrated by Quentin Blake. Jacket spine just very slightly faded; near-fine. More about Jake's Thing
The James Bond Dossier
London: Jonathan Cape. 1965. FIRST EDITION. THE AUTHOR'S COPY, in a bespoke quarter leather binding of half red morocco, gilt, commissioned by the publisher for presentation to Amis. Obviously a unique copy, this was likely bound by Ian Fleming's own binder Arthur Last, the style matching closely the author's copies... More about The James Bond Dossier
The Alteration.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1976. [Alternative history novel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.208. Publisher's green cloth, gilt titles to spine, top edge green, pictorial dust-jacket designed by Tom Adams. Textblock slightly toned, slight reading lean. Near fine. More about The Alteration
The Anti-Death League. A Novel.
London: Victor Gollancz, 1966. [Modern Literature] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.352. Publisher's brown cloth with gilt titles to spine. With the dust-jacket designed by Raymond Hawkey, priced at 30/- net. Some spotting to preliminaries and offset toning to endpapers. Some spotting to top edge, edges toned. Light sunning... More about The Anti-Death League. A Novel
The Anti-Death League. A Novel.
London: Victor Gollancz, [1966] 1972. [Modern Literature] SIGNED EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.352. Publisher's brown cloth with gilt titles to spine. With the dust-jacket designed by Raymond Hawkey, priced at £2.75. One of an unspecified small number of the second printings issued on behalf of the New Fiction Society... More about The Anti-Death League. A Novel
Girl, 20.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1971. [Modern Literature]. FIRST EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.253; [3]. Publisher's black cloth, gilt titles to spine, dust-jacket designed by Bill Botten. One closed tear and a couple of slight nicks to top edge of price-clipped jacket. Very good. More about Girl, 20
The Green Man.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1969. [Strange tale] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.253. Publisher's hardback in pictorial dust-wrapper priced at 30s. A gently used copy with a sunned spine; near fine. A pub landlord starts seeing ghosts, in a particularly literate tale that must have inspired John Cleese's Basil Fawlty... More about The Green Man
The Green Man.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1969. [Strange tale] UNCORRECTED PROOF of the FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.253. Publisher's green softcovers in proof-only pictorial dust-wrapper priced at 30s. A fine, unread copy of the book in near fine, lightly rubbed oversized jacket. A ghostly tale set in an english medieval coaching... More about The Green Man
My Enemy's Enemy, Stories.
London: Victor Gollancz. 1962. First Edition. Octavo, pp. 224. Red publisher's cloth with gilt titles to spine, in strikingly restrained yellow dustwrapper. Top and fore edge slightly browned, slight bumping to head and tail caps. Some wear to the top and bottom edges of the dustjacket with some marking and... More about My Enemy's Enemy, Stories
Colonel Sun.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1968. FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.255; [1]. Publisher's hardback cloth in pictorial dust-wrapper priced at 21s. Wraparound art by Tom Adams. Book is very clean, jacket with two short tears and a tiny amount of rubbing to crown. A particularly bright copy. The first post-... More about Colonel Sun
Colonel Sun.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1968. FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.255; [1]. Publisher's hardback cloth, cartographic endpapers, in pictorial dust-wrapper priced at 21s. Wraparound art by Tom Adams. Near fine, in slightly rubbed and soiled jacket. The first post- Ian Fleming James Bond novel, written under a pseudonym by Kingsley... More about Colonel Sun
Colonel Sun. A James Bond Adventure by Robert Markham.
London: Pan Books Ltd., 1970. [Spy novel] The FIRST Pan paperback edition. 'M' Series. Octavo (18 x 11cm), pp.221; [3], advertisements. Publisher's illustrated softcovers priced at 5 shillings (25 pence). Some gentle age-toning to paper stock and trivial wear to covers; a particularly sharp copy of the striking softcover version... More about Colonel Sun. A James Bond Adventure by Robert Markham
The James Bond Dossier.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1965. [Reference critique] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.159; [1]. Publisher's black cloth-effect paper over boards with gilt titles to spine in pictorial dust-wrapper, based on the familiar 'trompe l'oeil' designs which decorated the Ian Fleming first editions. Priced at 16s. to flap. Edges of text... More about The James Bond Dossier
The James Bond Dossier. Pre-publication Publicity File
London: To be Published by Jonathan Cape at 16s. on May 27th, no date [1965]. [James Bond] The complete pack, comprising a colour promotional poster for the book designed by Jan Pienkowski (52cm x 76cm), an 'Obituary of Commander James Bond' (35cm x 52cm), a cross-section and information regarding the... More about The James Bond Dossier. Pre-publication Publicity File
Colonel Sun. A James Bond Adventure.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1968. FIRST EDITION, Uncorrected Proof Copy. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.255; [1], blank. Publisher's lime green softcovers with 'greek urn' device repeated in white, titles printed in black. Contents clean, some wrinkling to spine, covers a little dusty and soiled, showing some general light handling; very good... More about Colonel Sun. A James Bond Adventure
The Book Of Bond, Or Every Man His Own 007 (Writing as Bill Tanner).
New York, NY: Viking Press, 1965. FIRST US EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. Small octavo. Publisher's white cloth with 'Walther' device in black, red endpapers, illustrated jacket by Raymond Hawkey. A lovely fine copy. An unusual piece of Bondiana, rarely seen signed. Bill Tanner is a fictional character in the... More about The Book Of Bond, Or Every Man His Own 007 (Writing as Bill Tanner
Results 1 - 20 (of 20)