I expect that in 40 years' time I'll be writing political tomes and working for an organisation like Oxfam.

The moment I'm perceived to be even a tiny bit successful, my career will go down the pan.

In Britain, by contrast, we still think that class plays a part in determining a person's life chances, so we're less inclined to celebrate success and less inclined to condemn failure. The upshot is that it's much easier to be a failure in Britain than it is in America.

People in London think of London as the center of the world, whereas New Yorkers think the world ends three miles outside of Manhattan.

I expect that in 40 years' time I'll be writing political tomes and working for an organisation like Oxfam.

I was once hired to write a column for 'The Guardian' and then got fired before I'd submitted my first one. That was unusual. Most newspapers wait until I've written at least one piece for them before firing me.

My life's ambition is to play a James Bond villain. I have the cat and the eye-patch, so I'm just waiting for the call. For some reason, though, the phone hasn't rung.