Find a quiet pub that hasn’t been renovated for at least twenty years, preferably longer.
Order a preposterous drink, one that involves Cinzano, and a pint of ale to wash it down.
Ask for a bag of crisps (or a more elaborate bar snack given a cigarette inside won’t be possible) and, once you’ve paid the tab (with cash rummaged from the lint-filled pocket of your crumpled, ill-fitting suit), take a seat in the corner.
Oh, and do all of this in the middle of the afternoon, so it’s light outside, and thus you’re filled with a sense of rule-breaking freedom.
Sorted?
Good. You can now join me and Richard Foster to discuss the great Kingsley Amis and one of his darkly comedic later novels, Ending Up.
Indeed, welcome to The Library of Lazy Thinking Podcast, with me, your host, Glenn Fisher.
As you may well know by now, in each episode, I'm joined by a guest from the world of books and culture to talk about a specific book they'd like to put in the library.
There's no plan and no agenda, just two people lazily thinking about literature.
If you enjoy the show and would like to help us (and get your hands on a coveted Library of Lazy Thinking bookmark, sticker, and pin badge), you can become a supporter of the library by upgrading your subscription.
But either way, please do like and share the show—it all helps.
In this episode, my very special guest is the author of Flower Factory and The Punk Rock Birdwatching Club, Richard Foster. We discuss his pick for the library, the 1974 novel Ending Up by Kingsley Amis.
About Richard
Richard Foster is a writer and artist living in the Netherlands. Richard is best known as a writer for The Quietus and Louder than War, and for his work at the famous avant-garde cultural centre, WORM. His debut novel, Flower Factory, was published by Ortac Press in 2022, followed by The Punk Rock Birdwatching Club in 2025.
About Kingsley
Sir Kingsley William Amis CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social and literary criticism. He is best known for satirical comedies such as Lucky Jim (1954), One Fat Englishman (1963), Ending Up (1974), Jake's Thing (1978) and The Old Devils (1986). His biographer Zachary Leader called Amis "the finest English comic novelist of the second half of the twentieth century". In 2008, The Times ranked him ninth on a list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. He was the father of the novelist Martin Amis.
Links to obscure (and not so obscure) things mentioned in this episode
* Order Ending Up by Kingsley Amis and Richard’s The Punk Rock Birdwatching Club from my local independent bookshop in Sheffield here.
* The BBC Documentary on Amis mentioned in the conversation can be found here.
* An interview with a younger Amis can be found here.
* Find Richard on Instagram here.
* Find Glenn on Instagram here.
* Find The Library of Lazy Thinking on Instagram here.
About the Library
The Library of Lazy Thinking is a place to hang out and learn more about books. The library is free—like all libraries should be. But if you’d like to support the library, you can make a small monthly donation by becoming a paid member (and get an exclusive The Library of Lazy Thinking bookmark, sticker, and pin badge). All donations go back into the library, helping to organize live events, exclusive merchandise, and more podcasts.
About Glenn
Glenn Fisher is a writer—wait, Glenn Fisher is me. I’m the one writing this. Let’s drop the third-person act. My writing has been published in Lunate, The Paris Bitter Hearts Pit, 3am Magazine, Dogmatika, and Litro Magazine. I write about books and interview other writers and artists here in The Library of Lazy Thinking. I live in Sheffield and work as a freelance copywriter. I have had a best-selling non-fiction book published on the subject called The Art of the Click. It was published by Harriman House and shortlisted for Business Book of the Year. It has been translated into Simplified Chinese and Korean. I also have a dog called Pablo. He is harder to translate. Indeed, most of my life revolves around trying to understand his often unreasonable demands. Meanwhile, I am currently working on my first novel about a man who accidentally kidnaps a pig.