In 1984, Anthony Burgess published Ninety-Nine Novels, a selection of his favourite novels in English since 1939. The list is typically idiosyncratic, and shows the breadth of Burgess’s interest in fiction. This podcast, by the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, explores the novels on Burgess’s list with the help of writers, critics and other special guests.

In this episode, Graham Foster is joined by novelist Adam Roberts, who introduces us to Life in the West by Brian Aldiss.

Life in the West tells the story of Thomas Squire, a filmmaker who is attending an academic conference to introduce his new documentary, Frankenstein in the Arts. At the conference he engages in conversations with the other attendees while dealing with the dissolution of his marriage, the trauma of his childhood and the violent years he spent in Yugoslavia as a member of British Intelligence. Anthony Burgess calls the novel ‘a rich book, not afraid of thought.’

Brain Aldiss was born in 1925. After serving in Burma during World War II he worked as a bookseller in Oxford, which was the inspiration for his first novel The Brightfount Diaries, published in 1955. He went on to become one of the most respected British authors of science fiction, writing 41 novels, 26 collections of short stories, 8 volumes of poetry, 5 volumes of autobiography and many more works of literary criticism, drama and edited anthologies. He died in 2017 at the age of 92.

Adam Roberts is a writer and an academic at Royal Holloway, University of London. His most recent novel, Lake of Darkness is available now. Fantasy: A Short History is forthcoming from Bloomsbury (2025).

Books mentioned in this episode

By Brian Aldiss:

• Hothouse (1962)
• Greybeard (1964)
• Billion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction (1973)
• Frankenstein Unbound (1973)
• Helliconia Trilogy (1982-85)
• Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction (1986)
• Forgotten Life (1988)
• Bury My Heart at W.H. Smith’s: A Writing Life (1990)
• Remembrance Day (1993)
• Twinkling of an Eye, or My Life as an Englishman (1998)
• Somewhere East of Life (1994)
• ‘Supertoys Last All Summer Long’ in The Complete Short Stories: The 1960s Part 2 (2015)

By others:

• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
• Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949)
• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (1955)
• A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)
• Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess (1980)
• The Names by Don DeLillo (1982)
• Small World by David Lodge (1984)

(This page contains affiliate links which help support the work of the Burgess Foundation)

In previous series of Ninety-Nine Novels, we learnt about authors including James Joyce, Thomas Pynchon, Elizabeth Bowen, Evelyn Waugh and Christopher Isherwood, among others. These episodes are available at your favourite place to get podcasts.

You can join the conversation and tell us which 100th book you would add to Burgess’s list by using the hashtag #99Novels on Twitter.

If you have enjoyed this episode, why not leave us a review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to this podcast below or on your audio platform of choice (Apple Podcasts / Soundcloud / Spotify/ YouTube), or use the streaming links below.

The theme music for the Ninety-Nine Novels podcast is Anthony Burgess’s Concerto for Flute, Strings and Piano in D Minor, performed by No Dice Collective.

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