SOURCE: “A Misunderstood Misanthrope,” in Harper's Bazaar, Vol. 122, No. 3329, May, 1989, pp. 76-7.

In the following review, Lida provides an overview of Amis's writings, considering whether the novelist's most recent work is dated.

Early on in Kingsley Amis' new novel Difficulties with Girls, one character says to another, “The bloody world's moved on without consulting us.” Although he is considered the greatest British comic novelist of his generation, some critics suggest a parallel view: that no matter how brilliant a sentence Amis turns, how trenchant his observations or how deep his skewering of British society, his work is dated, his politics are hopelessly reactionary— he's simply missed the boat.

Has the world moved on without consulting Amis? This is an excellent time to consider the question. After the 1987 American publication of his Booker Prize-winning The Old Devils, a beautiful and sensitive comedy about aging, Summit is also bringing out...