One of the great injustices in fiction is that on the whole people with romantic yearnings have romantic faces. But in real life it's not always like that.

When you are desperate to get someone who isn't all that interested in you, you lay siege as hard as you can.

I'm seen as a chronicler of the class system, which I don't think is unfair.

I think I have a very detailed sense of observation. I am interested in the details of people's lives and what information these details give.

I can be as contrary as I choose.

The moment I was introduced to my wife, Emma, at a party I thought, here she is - and 20 minutes later I told her she ought to marry me. She thought I was as mad as a rat. She wouldn't even give me her telephone number - and she wrote in her diary: "A funny little man asked me to marry him."

One of the great injustices in fiction is that on the whole people with romantic yearnings have romantic faces. But in real life it's not always like that.