Howard accuses Amis of being ‘pompous’

Writer Elizabeth Jane Howard, who was married to Kingsley Amis, is often credited by her stepson Martin Amis (pictured) for nurturing his love for books. However, she now feels that in doing so she may have created something of a literary monster.

Asked in an interview with the Sunday Times if she felt Martin, who will be 60 next year, sees himself as "a grand old man of literature", Howard laughed and said: "He does! And Kingsley never, ever, did, nor did any writer whom I've ever known. If you are an artist, you should just get on with the job."

Although Howard, 85, stopped short of criticising Amis's habit of passing opinions on every subject that comes his way, most recently Islamic fundamentalism, this was clearly her thrust. She said: "People have a very grandiose view of the world. It's easier to imagine yourself in an operatic version of real life – standing on the ramparts in a Puccini dawn, preparing to plunge to your death, instead of just getting on with it. I think it's all got a bit pompous. If I were with Martin more, I would laugh with him about it."

Howard, best known for her four-part chronicle of the fictional Cazalet family, does not seem too impressed by her stepson’s novels either. She said: "I think there is a school of writing which is obsessed with style, and they [Amis and his cohorts] have a few friends who feel as they do. I think they are much too conscious of hierarchy."