"The obsession with triviality is one of the symptoms of decline."

Martin Amis, one of few men effortlessly superior to Paxman.

Finally, a new Amis interview! There are never enough.

"You're not a bitter man? You're a jolly man are you?' asks Pax with a smug grin.

I am so excited for the August release of the new novel.

I think Amis is a gifted novelist, genuinely. He's clearly an intellectual, and in a mould that isn't bland. I'm always interested in what he's got to say, even though I don't always agree, his remarks about society interest me. I suppose he's a celebrity of sorts, and his views appear less filtered than some of the others, the likes of Will Self, Ian Mcewan et al aren't ever going to push the boat out and be as readily accepting of criticism/scorn as Amis appears to be, he enriches discourse. I do hope that this is the last instalment that he's got to offer on the so-called residuum though, if I read his novels that are primarily concerned with that class oblivious to the fact that he penned the novel, I don't think I'd be particularly enthralled. Passion and fascination don't necessarily always translate to quality, or in this case the sort of accuracy within the descriptive layers of a book that can be validated as genuine by the reader, perhaps its my own interaction with that class and what I know of Amis' background that cloud my judgment, but..he just doesn't really nail it, for me anyway.

I like that sentence.

Given Paxman's repressed laughs, I think we can say he's a bit of a fan.

Order it from Britain, we've had it for a few weeks. It's good stuff. There's a link in the video description...

He's good !!!

Paxman laughing at the end ... he's obviously experienced the occasional jobbie in a limo.

how does Lionel Asbo differ from John Self? Ive not read ASBO, but i have read Money. It did seem to me that John Self is a member, or at least very close to being a member, of the underclass that Amis speaks of in this interview.

Just finished reading it. It is brilliant! Hilarious and appalling in equal measure.

Have you read it?

It's very difficult to caricature a cartoon already drawn by the characters..

Love amis' serious tone , he's far too casual and simultaneously intellectual for paxman to deal with here. many including paxman in this interview fail to recognise his books in general are full of humour! I don't think the English understand poking affectionate fun anymore or novels and articles simply as photographing and observing they take everything far far far too seriously and place it out of context

Paxman is such as arse but he's necessary in our culture.

so Sasshay you're saying that if Amis used language like you're using he would become a better writer? LOL; I wouldn't go as far as saying that kids nowadays are illiterate, but then one would have to define what it means to be literate; if the ability to understand all that sms lingo makes you a literate person then obviously this is the type of literature you should stick to and not express opinions about someone whose vocabulary you simply are not capable of comprehending.

he sees everything through the prism of colonial decline, i would see that as a good thing

'...a swift jobbie in the stretch' Yuk!

Paxman needs a good smack

So you're telling me that in a comment meant to undermine Amis' prose and make a case for 21st century language, you used the acronym "LOL?" You can't be serious, mate. These days the average mind's lexicon is so diminished that we must lean on emoticons to express the feeling in our syntax. 21st Century Literature: The era when Snooki was a best-selling author - the great downturn.

The worst of Amis is his unfailing ignorance of the 'residuum classes' or what he actually means in terms of the lumpenproletariat. He treats these people with considerable distain, which obvious and palpable and unfortunately makes Lionel Asbo hilarious for all the wrong reasons. Namely his tone deafness, which is a considerable feat of a man born into the literary classes.

What makes Martin Amis think he knows anything at all about 'underclass' England?

Paxman is a bit of a jerk, really, isn't he?

hence the beard??

Martin Amis - typical grumpy, "England was better in my day/after WW2", 65+yrs, man of declining imagination writes another caricature of the underclass using pre-1970s language (I mean who talks like that???) lol.

I like much of his writings but this is just posh snobbery.