Burgess drank more or less heavily throughout his life. Here is his recipe for Hangman’s Blood, a cocktail that he devised in the 1960s and described in the Guardian:

‘Into a pint glass doubles of the following are poured: gin, whisky, rum, port, and brandy. A small bottle of stout is added, and the whole topped up with champagne or champagne surrogate. It tastes very smooth, induces a somehow metaphysical elation, and rarely leaves a hangover … I recommend this for a quick, though expensive, lift.’

Quoted in The Real Life Of Anthony Burgess by Andrew Biswell (London: Picador, 2005).

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