Kingsley Amis's Framework

Amis told the Paris Review in 1975 that he did not get up early, lingered over breakfast and the papers, and got to it about 10:30 still in pyjamas and dressing gown. His deal with himself was that he could stop and shave whenever he liked; in practice that was one or 1:15, timed to music on the radio, after which nicotine and alcohol were produced and he worked on until lunch. He hated afternoons and let himself off whatever got done then; cups of tea filled the gap until the bar opened at six and he got into second gear, going on until about 8:30 and always hating to stop. The chart draws a later-life version of the day: an eight o'clock rise, three and a half hours of writing, a long pub lunch, a half-hour armchair nap, two more hours of work and a long evening of Scotch and television. The honest framework for a reluctant starter. The work still gets done, because the start is fixed even though the mood is not.