DUNCAN HAMILTON
Duncan Hamilton is a three-time winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. His novel, Injury Time, is published by riverrun this month.
‘Way back in the late 1980s, shortly after The Old Devils won the Booker Prize, the BBC filmed a short profile of Kingsley Amis.
‘By then Amis was himself a benign Old Devil in thick framed glasses. He was filmed drinking his favourite whisky (Macallan single malt) and either scribbling on a pad or bashing away on a typewriter as big and grey as a battleship.
‘Amis was asked the clichéd question about what it takes to be a writer. His answer was pithy and a bit gruff. It was also the best piece of literary advice I’ve ever heard. I pass it on, regularly.