All novelists must form their personal pacts in some way with the slowness of their craft. There are some who demand of themselves a 'rate of production,' for whom it's a matter of pride to complete, say, a book every year.

Part of the very impulse of writing for me is actually wanting to get away from myself.

I am struck by the way people behave on the Tube. They look at each other beadily and inquisitively, and something goes on in their thoughts which must be equivalent to the way dogs and other animals, when they meet, sniff each other's arses and nuzzle each other's fur.

I like the world we've got. If there is anything special and magical, I have to find it in the ordinary stuff.

What does education do, what does it have to offer, when deprived of its necessary partner, the future, and face instead with - no future at all?

My mother was a great bringer-up of children. My memories are of a sense of security and comfort.

Novels, in my experience, are slow in coming, and once I've begun them I know I have years rather than months of work ahead of me.