In this essay, originally published in the Spectator in March 1968, Anthony Burgess discusses the pros and cons of living with cats. ‘Dare to Be a Catman’ by Anthony Burgess Cats only came properly into my life when, after six years of soldiering and two years of postwar mess (known officially as readjustment), I got […]

A new selection of Burgess’s essays about music will be published on 25 January. Music surrounded Burgess throughout his early years in Manchester. He came from a family of musicians: his mother had been a music-hall singer, and his father played piano in pubs, music halls and silent cinemas. In his book about music and […]