Martin Amis, acclaimed British novelist, dead at 73

Martin Amis, a witty and darkly humorous British novelist known for his works “Money” and “London Fields,” has died at 73.

His wife, the writer Isabel Fonseca, confirmed his passing Saturday to The New York Times, saying the cause of death was esophageal cancer.

Amis died Friday at his Lake Worth, Florida, home after a prolific writing career. He penned 15 novels including “Time’s Arrow” (1991) and “The Information” (1995).

The esteemed writer once told The New York Times Book Review that he wanted “to create a high style to describe low things.”

“I’m often accused of concentrating on the pungent, rebarbative side of life in my books, but I feel I’m rather sentimental about it,” he said in the 1985 interview. “Anyone who reads the tabloid papers will rub up against much greater horrors than I describe.”

Amis, who also wrote seven nonfiction books and two story collections, was regularly featured in the tabloids, which speculated on his reportedly juicy personal life and skewered him for his controversial remarks.

Born Martin Louis Amis in Oxford, England, on August 25,1949, the writer was well-traveled before he turned 18 due to his father’s academic travels.

Ironically, he was “pretty illiterate” until he was 17 and read Jane Austen with the encouragement of his step-mother, according to The Times. He later graduated from Exeter College at Oxford in 1971 and went on to work a series of editorial gigs in London.

While he took after his novelist father, the late Kingsley Amis, they often butted heads — but being the child of a writer gave him a leg up.

He published his first novel, “The Rachel Papers,” in 1973, writing the sexually-charged prose within a year. He followed it with “Dead Babies” three years later, a darkly comical piece of fiction that detailed the drug habits and sex lives of a group of young people.

His widely acclaimed piece of work is “Money” (1984), which Time Magazine named one of “the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923,” when the publication began.

Amis’ latest work “Inside Story” (2020), was dubbed a “novelized autobiography,” which included writing tips and memories from his literary tenure.

Amis wed twice in his lifetime. In 1984 he married Antonia Phillips, with whom he shares two sons, Louis and Jacob. Following their divorce, he tied the knot with Fonseca in 1988 and they share two daughters, Fernanda and Clio.

He is survived by his brother James Boyd, Fonseca, Fernanda, Clio, Louis, Jacob, four grandchildren and Delilah Jeary, a daughter from a short-lived affair with artist Lamorna Seale.

The Post has reached out to Amis’ reps for comment.