If the terms of my title seem a little odd to the reader, the fault is not mine: I have borrowed these from the ‘Introduction’ Mr Amis has seen fit to append to this collected edition of his short fiction.

Most of the sixteen pieces gathered in the present volume have appeared before, some in the author’s first collection of stories, My Enemy’s Enemy, and some in literary periodicals. If the reader is looking for an entirely new treat from Mr Amis, his choice is limited to only two items – a sort of ‘SF-Drink’ piece, called ‘To See The Sun’, and the Introduction. What an SF-Drink piece might be: for an answer to this riddle, again, the reader is advised to turn to the Introduction.

The singular character of the Introduction is announced by the blurb-writer in a manner which arouses our immediate curiosity. What we are led to anticipate is nothing less than a major critical challenge: ‘Readers of Amis’s Introduction to the collection will find his reflections on the short story unsolemn, if