Kingsley Amis's Daily Routine
Get the work done without an early start. Kingsley Amis wrote from 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM, took a long pub lunch and a nap, then wrote until 7:00 PM.
By Colin PaceUpdated
Overview
Kingsley Amis made his name with the comic novel Lucky Jim in 1954 and won the Booker Prize for The Old Devils in 1986. His day held 2 writing sessions with a very long lunch between them.
Mason Currey's Daily Rituals, drawing on Zachary Leader's biography, has him at breakfast at 8:00 AM and at his desk by 9:30 AM. At 1:00 PM he went to the pub for lunch, with a drink before and a coffee after, and at 4:30 PM he napped in his armchair. He worked again from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, then had dinner, Scotch and water and television until bed at 12:30 AM. A younger Amis, who started later and in pyjamas, appears on Currey's Daily Routines blog.
Adopt it if you are a reluctant starter who works best in 2 fixed sittings with a real break between. You get 5.5 hours of writing, a long lunch, a nap and an evening with nothing left to do. The 9:30 AM start, the evening session and a day that repeats all week are our reading of the sources.
Who's it for
At a glance
- 7 hr 30 min sleep per night
- 38.5 hr work per week
- 2 meals per day
- 17 hr eating window
- 52.5 hr play per week
Sleep
56 hours/week7 hr 30 min per night30 min nap
- Every day12:30 AM → 8:00 AM· 7 hr 30 min
- Nap4:30 PM · 30 min· Every day
Work
38.5 hours/week5 hr 30 min a day
- Writing9:30 AM → 1:00 PM· 3 hr 30 min · Every day
- Writing5:00 PM → 7:00 PM· 2 hr · Every day
Eat
21 hours/week2 meals7:17 eating window3 hr eating
- Breakfast8:00 AM → 9:30 AM· 1 hr 30 min · Every day
- Snack11:00 PM → 12:30 AM· 1 hr 30 min · Every day
Off
Play
52.5 hours/weekFriends 1:00 PMFamily 7:00 PM
- Every day1:00 PM → 4:30 PM· 3 hr 30 min
- Every day7:00 PM → 11:00 PM· 4 hr