The Information: A Novel

by Martin Amis, James Wood (Introduction)

Overview

A wry, incisive satire of envy and ambition following a failed novelist’s absurd quest to sabotage his more successful rival—with a new introduction by James Wood.

Richard Tull, a failed and disillusioned novelist, seethes with envy as he watches his longtime friend Gwyn Barry, a talentless, populist charlatan, rise to literary superstardom. Barry is adored by readers, celebrated by critics, and constantly in the public eye, while Tull sinks deeper into middle-aged obscurity, unable to escape the evidence of his own defeat. In a trance of impotent rage, Tull devises a vicious plan to ruin his friend—or at least hurt him as badly as possible—and finds himself tumbling into London’s criminal underworld, as well as the darkest precincts of his own soul.

Laced with Martin Amis’s signature linguistic brilliance and exquisite satirical bite, The Information probes the corrosive power of envy, the absurdity of rivalry, the hollow victories of modern fame, and the agonizing smallness of man’s place in the universe. By turns hilarious and devastating, it is the work of a literary master at the peak of his dazzling powers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250414861
Publisher:	Picador
Publication date:	10/07/2025
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.38(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Martin Amis (1949-2023) was a British novelist and critic. His work includes fifteen novels, among them Money, London Fields and The Information; two collections of short stories; five books of essays; and the acclaimed memoir Experience.

James Wood is a staff writer at The New Yorker and Professor of the Practice of Literary Criticism at Harvard University. He is the author of How Fiction Works, as well as two essay collections, The Broken Estate and The Irresponsible Self, and a novel, The Book Against God.

Hometown:

Oxford, England

Date of Birth:

August 25, 1949

Place of Birth:

Oxford, England

Education:

B.A., Exeter College, Oxford