Main content

Kirsty Lang talks to American writer AM 91热爆s

Kirsty Lang talks to the writer AM 91热爆s whose darkly comic novels about contemporary America are a perfect reading companion for our times

AM 91热爆s won the Women's Prize for Fiction 2013 for her novel May We Be Forgiven, beating off stellar competition from Hilary Mantel, Kate Atkinson, Barbara Kingsolver and Zadie Smith.

Kirsty Lang has been finding AM's darkly comic novels and short stories perfect reading for the lockdown. Her writing penetrates contemporary America, with characters who are pulled apart by accidents, trauma, jealousy, chance encounters and who must examine their lives in order to start over again. The stories are wickedly funny, relentless in their pace and often redemptive.

In this extended Front Row interview, AM talks to Kirsty about recovering from Covid-19, growing up in Washington DC and her fascination with Nixon; why she loves to write male protagonists, her lack of inhibition when writing sex scenes - and the challenges of satirising our strange times.

She also reads from and talks about her memoir, The Mistress's Daughter, which tells the story of how she was given up for adoption on the day she was born. Her birth parents were a twenty-two year old woman and an older married man. Thirty-one years later, her birth mother tracked her down.

Presenter : Kirsty Lang
Producer : Dymphna Flynn
Studio Manager: Nigel Dix

Harry Silver.....David Seddon
Narrator.....Darcey Halsey
Richard Novak.....Tony Pasqualini
Emergency Operator.....Adriana Sevan
Patty.....Lisa Pelikan

Main image above: A. M. 91热爆s

Available now

28 minutes

AM 91热爆s

AM 91热爆s

Images: Main image above:

Image to the left: the books by AM 91热爆s that were featured in this programme:

Days of Awe (2018)
May We Be Forgiven (2012)
The Mistress's Daughter (2007)
This Book Will Save Your Life (2006)
The End of Alice (1996)

Audio clips in this episode:

91热爆 R4 drama This Book Will Save Your Life by AM 91热爆s听, adapted by Penny Leicester:
Narrator....Darcy Halsey
Richard Novak ....Tony Pasqualini
Emergency Operator.... Adriana Sevan
Patty...Lisa Pelikan

and David Seddon reads Harry from May We Be Forgiven.

Broadcast

  • Mon 25 May 2020 19:15

91热爆 Arts Digital

The best of British culture live and on demand.

Inspire

Inspire

A season discovering where artists find inspiration and helping listeners get creative.

Podcast