Inside Anthony Burgess is a podcast that explores the writing of the author of A Clockwork Orange. Taking in Burgess’s fiction and non-fiction, we feature one of his books in each episode, discussing the genesis of the work, its thematic interests, and its literary techniques.

This first episode starts at the beginning with The Malayan Trilogy, a sequence which contains Burgess’s first three published novels: Time for a Tiger (1956), The Enemy in the Blanket (1958), and Beds in the East (1959). To discuss these novels Andrew Biswell is joined by Dr Ida Baizura Bahar, senior lecturer in English at Universiti Putra Malaysia.

The Malayan Trilogy tells the story of Victor Crabbe, an education officer in the British Colonial Service, who arrives in Malaya to teach at the Mansoor School, modelled on the elite English boarding schools. Through Victor Crabbe and the multi-cultural cast of characters he encounters, Burgess gives a broad view of a particular British colony as it approaches the moment of independence in 1957.

Ida Baizura Bahar is senior lecturer in English at Universiti Putra Malaysia and has written the book Beyond Malaya: Visions of Bangsa Malaysia in The Malayan Trilogy by Anthony Burgess.

Books mentioned in this episode:

By Anthony Burgess:

• Time for a Tiger (1956)
• The Enemy in the Blanket (1958)
• Beds in the East (1959)
• A Clockwork Orange (1962)

You can buy these books at the Burgess Foundation’s affiliate store on Bookshop.org, which helps to support our charitable work.

You can listen to Inside Anthony Burgess on your audio platform of choice (Apple Podcasts / Spotify/ YouTube), or use the streaming links below.

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