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<?pagebreak number="iii"?>KINGSLEY AMIS

I Want It Now

PENGUIN BOOKS

<?pagebreak number="v"?>Contents

1  London

2  Malakos, Poustos

3  Fort Charles

4  London

<?pagebreak number="i"?>PENGUIN MODERN CLASSICS

I WANT IT NOW

Kingsley Amis (1922–1995) was born in South London and educated at the City of London School and St John’s College, Oxford. He began his literary career as a poet but shot to fame on the publication of his first novel, Lucky Jim, in 1954. He wrote over twenty novels, including That Uncertain Feeling, One Fat Englishman, The Green Man and Stanley and the Women. He was nominated for the Booker Prize for Ending Up (1974) and again for Jake’s Thing (1978), and he won it for The Old Devils in 1986. Amis also published six volumes of poetry and many works of non-fiction, including his Memoirs (1991). He wrote widely on science fiction, politics, education, language, films, television, eating and drinking. He was appointed CBE in 1981 and was knighted in 1990.

<?pagebreak number="vii"?>To Tom Maschler

<?pagebreak number="1"?>One

London

‘Now if I may bring the two of you to a final point,’ said Ronnie Appleyard, with an air of genuinely asking permission, ‘what about the more long-term future? Wouldn’t you agree that the present Government proposals’ – he turned suddenly to the junior Minister on his left – ‘do no more than nibble at this vital human—’

The Minister got as far as ‘Not for a—’ before Ronnie rode over him.

‘Old people are not a nuisance that we’re being forced to do something about against our will; they’ve given their working lives to build our prosperity, they deserve their full share of it and it’s up to all of us, up to you …’

Ronnie’s abrupt pause took the Minister off guard. He had not done a great deal of television, and he had been thoroughly daunted five minutes earlier, when Ronnie had contradicted him on a factual point about National Health prescriptions. He had been right and Ronnie wrong, but a negligible percentage of the three million viewers would know that, and he was fully aware that Ronnie’s way of apologizing for the lapse in the next programme would only endear him further to that vast majority who would already have forgotten about the matter at issue.

The Minister made a jerky movement with his hand and said with controlled exasperation, ‘Look – I and all my colleagues are bearing that in mind all the time, Ronnie. This thing is a top <?pagebreak number="2"?>priority with us. You go on as if we’re doing nothing about it. I’ve just been telling you—’

‘Not nothing, Mr Gibson. ’ Ronnie sat motionless on his raised stool, a tall fair-haired figure, thinnish but greedy-looking. ‘Not nothing. Just a good deal less than ordinary common decency requires. That’s all. ’

Conscious of what the use of his surname after his own christian-naming had made him seem, the Minister opened his mouth as if he meant to bite Ronnie, but Ronnie had already turned to the other participant, an elderly Opposition back-bencher whose bleating voice and perpetually puzzled expression, plus the combination of white hair and a black moustache, put him much in demand for programmes of this sort.