I feel that at any stage of my literary career it could have been said that the last book contained all the others.

His ignorance seemed to widen with everything he read.

My publisher, who was so good as a taster and editor, when she became a writer, lo and behold, it was all this feminine tosh.

I really wasn't equipped to be a writer when I left Oxford. But then I set out to learn. I've always had the highest regard for the craft. I've always felt it was work.

But everything of value about me is in my books.

Home is, I suppose just a child's idea. A house at night, and a lamp in the house. A place to feel safe.

I profoundly feel that people are letting you down all the time.