Discover the Best Books Written by Clive James

Clive James AO CBE FRSL (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer, and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until he died in 2019. He began his career specializing in literary criticism before becoming a television critic for The Observer in 1972, where he made his name for his wry, deadpan humor.

During this period, he earned an independent reputation as a poet and satirist. He achieved mainstream success in the UK first as a writer for television, and eventually as the lead in his own programs, including ...on Television. James became the television critic for The Observer in 1972, remaining in the role until 1982. Mark Lawson described a James review as "so funny it was dangerous to read while holding a hot drink."

He was, at times, merciless. Selections from the column were published in three books – Visions Before Midnight, The Crystal Bucket, and Glued to the Box – and finally in a compendium, On Television. He wrote literary criticism for newspapers, magazines, and periodicals in Britain, Australia, and the United States, including, among many others, the Australian Book Review, The Monthly, The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, The Liberal, and The Times Literary Supplement. 

John Gross included James's "A Blizzard of Tiny Kisses" essay in the Oxford Book of Essays (1992, 1999). The Metropolitan Critic (1974), his first collection of literary criticism, was followed by At the Pillars of Hercules (1979), From the Land of Shadows (1982), Snake charmers in Texas (1988), The Dreaming Swimmer (1992), Even As We Speak (2001), The Meaning of Recognition (2005) and Cultural Amnesia (2007), a collection of miniature intellectual biographies of over 100 significant figures in modern culture, history, and politics. 

A defense of humanism, liberal democracy, and literary clarity, the book was listed among the best of 2007 by The Village Voice. Another volume of essays, The Revolt of the Pendulum, was published in June 2009. He also published Flying Visits, a collection of travel writing for The Observer. For many years, until mid-2014, he wrote the weekly television critique page in the "Review" section of the Saturday edition of The Daily Telegraph.