Clive James

Clive James AO CBE FRSL
James in 2008
Born	Vivian Leopold James (1939-10-07)7 October 1939 Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia
Died	24 November 2019(2019-11-24) (aged 80) Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
Occupation	Author essayist poet broadcaster
Alma mater	University of Sydney Pembroke College, Cambridge
Notable works	Unreliable Memoirs Cultural Amnesia
Notable awards	Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal for Literature
Spouse	Prudence Shaw ​ (m. 1968)​
Children	2 (including Claerwen James)
Website
clivejames.com

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 his death in 2019.^[1][2] He began his career specialising in literary criticism before becoming television critic for The Observer in 1972, where he made his name for his wry, deadpan humour.

During this period, he earned an independent reputation as a poet and satirist.^[3] He achieved mainstream success in the UK first as a writer for television, and eventually as the lead in his own programmes, including ...on Television.

Early life

James was born Vivian Leopold James in Kogarah, a southern suburb of Sydney. He was allowed to change his name as a child because "after Vivien Leigh played Scarlett O'Hara the name became irrevocably a girl's name no matter how you spelled it".^[4] He chose "Clive", the name of Tyrone Power's character in the 1942 film This Above All.^[5]

James' father, Albert Arthur James, was taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War II. Although he survived the prisoner-of-war camp, he died when the American B-24 carrying him and other freed Allied POWs ran into the tail of a typhoon en route from Okinawa to Manila, and crashed into the mountains of southeastern Taiwan.^[6] He was buried at Sai Wan War Cemetery in Hong Kong.^[7] James would later state that his life's works originated in his father's death.^[8]

James, an only child, was brought up by his mother (Minora May, née Darke), a factory worker, in the Sydney suburbs of Kogarah and Jannali, living some years with his English maternal grandfather.^[9][4][10]

He was educated at Sydney Technical High School (despite winning a bursary award to Sydney Boys High School) and the University of Sydney, where he read English and Psychology from 1957 to 1960, and became associated with the Sydney Push, a libertarian intellectual subculture. At university, he contributed to the student newspaper, Honi Soit and directed the annual students' union revue. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in English in 1961. After graduation, James worked for a year as an assistant editor for the magazine page at The Sydney Morning Herald.^[7]

In 1962, James emigrated to Britain, which became his home for the rest of his life.^[11] During his first three years in London, he shared a flat with the Australian film director Bruce Beresford (disguised as "Dave Dalziel" in the first three volumes of James's memoirs), was a neighbour of Australian artist Brett Whiteley, became acquainted with Barry Humphries (disguised as "Bruce Jennings") and had a variety of occasionally disastrous short-term jobs: sheet metal worker, library assistant, photo archivist and market researcher.^[12][13][7]

During one summer holiday, he worked as a circus roustabout to save enough money to travel to Italy.^[14] His contemporaries at Cambridge included Germaine Greer (known as "Romaine Rand" in the first three volumes of his memoirs), Simon Schama and Eric Idle. Having, he claimed, scrupulously avoided reading any of the course material (but having read widely otherwise in English and foreign literature), James graduated with a 2:1—better than he had expected—and began a PhD thesis on Percy Bysshe Shelley.^[7]

Career

Critic and essayist

James became the television critic for The Observer in 1972, remaining in the role until 1982.^[9] Mark Lawson described a James review as "so funny it was dangerous to read while holding a hot drink".^[15][16][17] He was at times merciless and 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.^[18] 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.^[19] John Gross included James's essay "A Blizzard of Tiny Kisses" in the Oxford Book of Essays (1992, 1999).^[20]

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), Snakecharmers 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.^[21] A defence 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.^[22] He also published Flying Visits, a collection of travel writing for The Observer. Until mid-2014, he wrote the weekly television critique page in the "Review" section of the Saturday edition of The Daily Telegraph.^[7]

Poet and lyricist

James published several books of poetry, including Poem of the Year (1983), a verse-diary; Other Passports: Poems 1958–1985, a first collection and The Book of My Enemy (2003), a volume that takes its title from his poem "The Book of My Enemy Has Been Remaindered".^[23]

He published four mock-heroic poems: The Fate of Felicity Fark in the Land of the Media: a moral poem (1975), Peregrine Prykke's Pilgrimage Through the London Literary World (1976), Britannia Bright's Bewilderment in the Wilderness of Westminster (1976) and Charles Charming's Challenges on the Pathway to the Throne (1981), and one long autobiographical epic, The River in the Sky (2018).^[24] During the 1970s he also collaborated on six albums of songs with Pete Atkin:^[25]

• Beware of the Beautiful Stranger (1970)
• Driving Through Mythical America (1971)
• A King at Nightfall (1973)
• The Road of Silk (1974)
• Secret Drinker (1974)
• Live Libel (1975)

Atkin and James toured together to promote both the final album, a "contractual obligation" collection consisting of parodies and humour numbers written over the years, and James's own Felicity Fark epic poem. James wrote the album sleeve notes, which mostly linked the songs with thinly disguised jibes at popular artists and trends. On stage James both read from his poem, and introduced the album songs. Despite the success of the tour, there were no more recordings by Atkin, who pursued other opportunities and eventually became a BBC radio producer.

A revival of interest in the songs in the late 1990s, triggered largely by the creation by Steve Birkill of an Internet mailing list "Midnight Voices" in 1997, led to the reissue of the six albums on CD between 1997 and 2001, as well as live performances by the pair. A double album of previously unrecorded songs written in the seventies and entitled The Lakeside Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2 was released in 2002 and Winter Spring, an album of new material written by James and Atkin was released in 2003.^[25] This was followed by Midnight Voices, an album of remakes of the best Atkin/James songs from the early albums, and, in 2015, by The Colours of the Night, which included several newly completed songs.^[25]

James acknowledged the importance of the Midnight Voices group in bringing to wider attention the lyric-writing aspect of his career. He wrote in November 1997, "That one of the midnight voices of my own fate should be the music of Pete Atkin continues to rank high among the blessings of my life".^[26]

In 2013, he issued his translation of Dante's Divine Comedy. The work, adopting quatrains to translate the original's terza rima, was well received by Australian critics.^[27][28] Writing for The New York Times, Joseph Luzzi thought it often failed to capture the more dramatic moments of the Inferno, but that it was more successful where Dante slows down, in the more theological and deliberative cantos of the Purgatorio and Paradiso.^[29]

Novelist and memoirist

In 1980 James published his first book of autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs, which recounted his early life in Australia and extended to over 100 reprintings. It was followed by four other volumes of autobiography: Falling Towards England (1985), which covered his London years; May Week Was in June (1990), which dealt with his time at Cambridge; North Face of Soho (2006); and The Blaze of Obscurity (2009), concerning his subsequent career as a television presenter. An omnibus edition of the first three volumes was published under the generic title of Always Unreliable. James also wrote four novels: Brilliant Creatures (1983); The Remake (1987); Brrm! Brrm! (1991), published in the United States as The Man from Japan; and The Silver Castle (1996).^[30]

In 1999, John Gross included an excerpt from Unreliable Memoirs in The New Oxford Book of English Prose.^[31] John Carey chose Unreliable Memoirs as one of the 50 most enjoyable books of the 20th century in his book Pure Pleasure (2000).^[32]

Television

James developed his television career as a guest commentator on various shows, including as an occasional co-presenter with Tony Wilson on the first series of So It Goes, the Granada Television pop music show. On the show when the Sex Pistols made their TV debut, James commented: "During the recording, the task of keeping the little bastards under control was given to me. With the aid of a radio microphone, I was able to shout them down, but it was a near thing ... they attacked everything around them and had difficulty in being polite even to each other".^[33]

James subsequently hosted the ITV show Clive James on Television, in which he showcased unusual or (often unintentionally) amusing television programmes from around the world, notably the Japanese TV show Endurance. After his move to the BBC in 1988, he hosted a similarly formatted programme called Saturday Night Clive (1989–1991), which began on BBC2 but was popular enough to move to BBC1 in 1991. It returned in 1994 on Sunday nights, under the title Sunday Night Clive.

In 1995 he set up Watchmaker Productions to produce The Clive James Show for ITV, and a subsequent series launched the British career of singer and comedian Margarita Pracatan. James hosted one of the early chat shows on Channel 4 and fronted the BBC's Review of the Year programmes in the late 1980s (Clive James on the '80s) and 1990s (Clive James on the '90s), which formed part of the channel's New Year's Eve celebrations.^[34]

In the mid-1980s, James featured in a travel programme called Clive James in... (beginning with Clive James Live in Las Vegas) for LWT (now ITV) and later switched to BBC, where he continued producing travel programmes, this time called Clive James's Postcard from... (beginning with Clive James's Postcard from Miami) – these also eventually transferred to ITV. He was also one of the original team of presenters of the BBC's The Late Show, hosting a round-table discussion on Friday nights.^[35]

His major documentary series Fame in the 20th Century (1993) was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, in Australia by the ABC and in the United States by the PBS network. This series dealt with the concept of "fame" in the 20th century, following over a course of eight episodes (each one chronologically and roughly devoted to one decade of the century, from the 1900s to the 1980s) discussions about world-famous people of the 20th century. Through the use of film footage, James presented a history of "fame" which explored its growth to today's global proportions. In his closing monologue he remarked, "Achievement without fame can be a rewarding life, while fame without achievement is no life at all."^[36]

A fan of motor racing, James presented the 1982, 1984 and 1986 official Formula One season review videos produced by the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA). He attended most F1 races during the 1980s and was a friend of former FOCA boss Bernie Ecclestone. He also presented The Clive James Formula 1 Show for ITV to coincide with their Formula One coverage in 1997.^[35]

Radio

In 2007, James started presenting the BBC Radio 4 series A Point of View,^[37] with transcripts appearing in the "Magazine" section of BBC News Online. In this programme James discussed various issues with a slightly humorous slant. Topics covered included media portrayal of torture,^[38] young black role models^[39] and corporate rebranding.^[40] Three of James's broadcasts in 2007 were shortlisted for the 2008 Orwell Prize.^[41]

In October 2009, James read a radio version of his book The Blaze of Obscurity on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week programme.^[42] In December 2009, James talked about the P-51 Mustang and other American fighter aircraft of World War II in The Museum of Curiosity on BBC Radio 4.^[43]

In May 2011, the BBC published a new podcast, A Point of View: Clive James, which features all sixty A Point of View programmes presented by James between 2007 and 2009.^[44]

He posted vlog conversations from his internet show Talking in the Library, including conversations with Ian McEwan, Cate Blanchett, Julian Barnes, Jonathan Miller and Terry Gilliam. In addition to the poetry and prose of James himself, the site featured the works of other literary figures such as Les Murray and Michael Frayn, as well as the works of painters, sculptors and photographers such as John Olsen and Jeffrey Smart.

Theatre

In 2008 James performed in two eponymous shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Clive James in Conversation and Clive James in the Evening. He took the latter show on a limited tour of the UK in 2009.^[45]

Honours

James's plaque on the Sydney Writers Walk

In 1992, James was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). This was enhanced to Officer level (AO) in the 2013 Australia Day Honours. James was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to literature and the media.^[46] In 2003 he was awarded the Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal for Literature. He received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Sydney and East Anglia. In April 2008, James was awarded a Special Award for Writing and Broadcasting by the judges of the Orwell Prize.^[47]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2010.^[48] He was an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge (his alma mater). In the 2015 BAFTAs, James received a special award honouring his 50-year career.^[49] In 2014, he was awarded the President's Medal by the British Academy.^[50]

James is celebrated with a plaque on the Sydney Writers Walk on Circular Quay. It includes an excerpt on Sydney Harbour from Unreliable Memoirs.^[51]

Political views

James's political views were prominent in much of his later writing. While critical of communism for its tendency towards totalitarianism, he identified with the left for much of his life. In a 2006 interview in The Sunday Times, James said of himself: "I was brought up on the proletarian left, and I remain there. The fair go for the workers is fundamental, and I don't believe the free market has a mind."^[52] In a speech given in 1991, he criticised privatisation, saying: "The idea that Britain's broadcasting system—for all its drawbacks one of the country's greatest institutions—was bound to be improved by being subjected to the conditions of a free market: there was no difficulty in recognising that notion as politically illiterate. But for some reason people did have difficulty in realising that it was economically illiterate too."^[53] In 2001, James identified as a liberal social democrat.^[54]

His later views were more commonly aligned with the political right. James strongly supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying in 2007 that "the war only lasted a few days" and that the continuing conflict in Iraq was "the Iraq peace".^[55] He also wrote that it was "official policy to rape a woman in front of her family" during Saddam Hussein's regime and that women have enjoyed more rights since the invasion.^[56] In 2017, James contributed a chapter to a book on climate change published by the Institute of Public Affairs, advocating climate denialism.^[57]

Describing religions as "advertising agencies for a product that doesn't exist", James was an atheist and saw it as the default and obvious position.^[58][59] He was also a patron of the Burma Campaign UK, an organisation that campaigns for human rights and democracy in Burma.^[60]

Personal life

In 1968, at Cambridge,^[61] James married Prudence A. "Prue" Shaw,^[1] also Australian, a graduate of the University of Sydney, the University of Florence and Somerville College, Oxford. Shaw taught Italian language and literature at the University of Cambridge, and at University College London where, since retirement in 2003, she has been emerita reader in Italian studies. She is the author of Reading Dante: From Here to Eternity.

James and Shaw had two daughters, one of whom is the artist Claerwen James.^[62] In April 2012, the Australian Channel Nine programme A Current Affair ran an item in which the former model Leanne Edelsten admitted to an eight-year affair with James beginning in 2004.^[63] Shaw evicted her husband from the family home following the revelation.^[1] Before this, for most of his working life, James divided his time between a converted warehouse flat in London and the family home in Cambridge.^[64]

After the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, James wrote a piece for The New Yorker entitled "Requiem", recording his overwhelming grief.^[65][66] From then he mainly declined to comment about their friendship, apart from some remarks in his fifth volume of memoirs, Blaze of Obscurity.^[67]

James was able to read, with varying fluency, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.^[68] A tango enthusiast, he travelled to Buenos Aires for dance lessons and had a dance floor in his house.^[58]

James was a fan of the St George Dragons and wrote admiringly of Rugby League Immortal Reg Gasnier who was a schoolmate at Sydney Technical High School.^[69] He guest presented one episode of The Footy Show in 2005.^[70]

Health and death

For much of his life, James was a heavy drinker and smoker. He recorded in May Week Was in June his habit of filling a hubcap ashtray daily.^[71][72][73] At various times he wrote of attempts, intermittently successful, to give up drinking and smoking.^[74] He smoked 80 cigarettes a day for a number of years before giving up in 2005. (Prior to this, he had been successful in giving up smoking for 13 years, beginning in his early 30s.)^[75]

In April 2011, after media speculation that he had suffered kidney failure,^[76] James confirmed in June 2012 that B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia "had beaten him" and that he was "near the end".^[77] He said that he was also diagnosed with emphysema and kidney failure in early 2010.^[78]

On 3 September 2013, an interview with journalist Kerry O'Brien, Clive James: The Kid from Kogarah, was broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.^[79] The interview was filmed in the library of his old college at Cambridge University. In the extended interview, James discussed his illness and confronting mortality.^[79] James wrote the poem "Japanese Maple" which was published in The New Yorker in 2014 and described as his "farewell poem".^[80] The New York Times called it "a poignant meditation on his impending death".^[81]

In a BBC interview with Charlie Stayt, broadcast on 31 March 2015, James described himself as "near to death but thankful for life".^[82] In October 2015, he admitted to feeling "embarrassment" at still being alive thanks to experimental drug treatment.^[83] Until June 2017, he wrote a weekly column for The Guardian entitled "Reports of My Death...".^[84] James died at his home in Cambridge on 24 November 2019.^[85]

Bibliography

Memoir

• Unreliable Memoirs. Jonathan Cape. 1980.
• Falling Towards England. Jonathan Cape. 1985. ISBN 978-0-330-29437-9.
• May Week Was in June. Jonathan Cape. 1990. ISBN 978-0-330-31522-7.
• North Face of Soho. Picador. 2006. ISBN 978-0-330-48128-1.
• The Blaze of Obscurity. Picador. 2009. ISBN 978-0-330-45736-1.

Criticism

• The Metropolitan Critic. Faber and Faber. 1974. ISBN 978-0-224-04241-3.^[86]
  • New edition: The Metropolitan Critic: Non-fiction 1968–1973. Jonathan Cape. 1994. ISBN 978-1-4472-6790-4.
• Visions Before Midnight: Television Criticism from the Observer 1972–76. Jonathan Cape. 1977. ISBN 0-224-01386-6.
• At the Pillars of Hercules: Non-fiction 1973–1977. Faber and Faber. 1979. ISBN 978-0-330-37214-5.
• First Reactions: Critical Essays 1968–79. Knopf. 1980. ISBN 978-0-394-51233-4. (US collection)
• The Crystal Bucket: Television Criticism from the Observer 1976–79. Jonathan Cape. 1981. ISBN 978-0-330-26745-8.
• From the Land of Shadows. Jonathan Cape. 1982. ISBN 978-0-330-26994-0. (Essays 1977–81)
• Glued to the Box: Television Criticism from the Observer 1979–82. Jonathan Cape. 1983. ISBN 978-0-224-02066-4.
• Snakecharmers in Texas: Essays 1980–87. Jonathan Cape. 1988. ISBN 978-0-330-30580-8.
• Clive James on Television. Picador. 1991. (Collects Visions Before Midnight, The Crystal Bucket, and Glued to the Box)
• The Dreaming Swimmer: Non-fiction 1987–1992. Jonathan Cape. 1992. ISBN 978-0-330-33121-0.
• Fame in the 20th Century. BBC Books. 1993. ISBN 978-0-563-36274-6. (Book of the TV series)
• Even As We Speak: New Essays 1993–2001. Picador. 2001. ISBN 978-0-330-48176-2.
• Reliable Essays: The Best of Clive James. Picador. 2001. ISBN 978-0-330-48129-8.
• As of This Writing: The Essential Essays, 1968–2002. W. W. Norton & Company. 2003. ISBN 978-0-393-05180-3. (US collection)
  • Reissue: Cultural Cohesion: The Essential Essays, 1968–2002. W. W. Norton & Company. 2013. ISBN 978-0-393-34636-7.
• The Meaning of Recognition: New Essays 2001–2005. Picador. 2005.
• Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts. W. W. Norton & Company. 2007. ISBN 978-0-393-06116-1.
• The Revolt of the Pendulum: Essays 2005–2008. Picador. 2009. ISBN 978-0-330-45739-2.
• A Point of View. Picador. 2011. ISBN 978-0-330-53438-3. (Book of the radio series)
• Poetry Notebook: 2006–2014. Picador. 2014. ISBN 978-1-4472-6910-6.
• Latest Readings. Yale University Press. 2015. ISBN 978-0-300-22355-2.
• Play All: A Bingewatcher's Notebook. Yale University Press. 2016. ISBN 978-0-300-22970-7.
• Somewhere Becoming Rain: Collected Writings on Philip Larkin. Picador. 2019. ISBN 978-1-5290-2882-9.

Travel

• Flying Visits: Postcards from the Observer 1976–83. Jonathan Cape. 1984. ISBN 978-0-330-28839-2.

Novels

• Brilliant Creatures. Jonathan Cape. 1983. ISBN 978-0-330-28343-4.
• The Remake. Jonathan Cape. 1987. ISBN 978-0-330-30374-3.
• Brrm! Brrm! (or The Man from Japan, or Perfume at Anchorage). Jonathan Cape. 1991. ISBN 978-0-330-32548-6. (US title: The Man from Japan)
• The Silver Castle. Jonathan Cape. 1996. ISBN 978-0-224-04384-7.

Poetry

Poetry collections

• Fan-mail: Seven Verse Letters. Faber and Faber. 1977. ISBN 978-0-571-11058-2.
• Other Passports: Poems 1958–1985. Jonathan Cape. 1986. ISBN 978-0-330-30179-4.
• The Book of My Enemy: Collected Verse 1958–2003. Picador. 2003. ISBN 978-0-330-42004-4.
• Angels Over Elsinore: Collected Verse 2003–2008. Picador. 2008. ISBN 978-0-330-45740-8.
• Opal Sunset: Selected Poems 1958–2008. W.W. Norton & Co. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-06707-1.
• Nefertiti in the Flak Tower: Collected Verse 2008–2011. Picador. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4472-0700-9.
• Sentenced to Life: Poems 2011–2014. Picador. 2015. ISBN 978-1-4472-8405-5.
• Collected Poems 1958–2015. Picador. 2016. ISBN 978-1-63149-247-1.
• Injury Time. Picador. 2017. ISBN 978-1-5098-5298-7.

Epic poems

• The Fate of Felicity Fark in the Land of the Media. Jonathan Cape. 1975. ISBN 978-0-224-01185-3.
• Peregrine Prykke's Pilgrimage through the London Literary World. Jonathan Cape. 1976.^[7]
• Britannia Bright's Bewilderment in the Wilderness of Westminster. Jonathan Cape. 1976. ISBN 978-0-224-01319-2.
• Charles Charming's Challenges on the Pathway to the Throne. Jonathan Cape. 1981. ISBN 978-0-224-01954-5.
• Poem of the Year. Jonathan Cape. 1983. ISBN 978-0-224-02961-2.
• Gate of Lilacs: A Verse Commentary on Proust. Picador. 2016. ISBN 978-1-5098-1235-6.
• The River in the Sky. Picador. 2018. ISBN 978-1-5098-8723-1.

Translation

• Dante (2013). The Divine Comedy: A new verse translation by Clive James. Liveright. ISBN 978-0-87140-741-2.

Anthology

• The Fire of Joy: Roughly 80 Poems to Get by Heart and Say Aloud. Picador. 2020. ISBN 978-1-52904-208-5.

List of selected poems

Title	Year	First published	Reprinted/collected
The book of my enemy has been remaindered	1983	James, Clive (2 June 1983). "The book of my enemy has been remaindered". The London Review of Books. 5 (10).
Beachmaster	2009	James, Clive (April 2009). "Beachmaster". The Monthly.
Early to bed	2013	James, Clive (April 2013). "Early to bed". Australian Book Review. 350: 25.
Leçons de ténèbres	2013	James, Clive (3 June 2013). "Leçons de ténèbres". The New Yorker. Vol. 89, no. 16. p. 64.
Rounded with a sleep	2014	James, Clive (16 March 2015). "Rounded with a sleep". The Times Literary Supplement. 5810: 4.
Star system	2015	James, Clive (16 March 2015). "Star system". The New Yorker. Vol. 91, no. 4. pp. 50–51.
Visitation of the dove	2015	James, Clive (7 December 2015). "Visitation of the dove". The New Yorker. Vol. 91, no. 39. p. 50.
Initial outlay	2016	James, Clive (January–February 2016). "Initial outlay". Quadrant. 60 (1–2): 9.
I was proud of these hands once	2016	James, Clive (January–February 2016). "I was proud of these hands once". Quadrant. 60 (1–2): 49.
Splinters from Shakespeare	2016	James, Clive (January–February 2016). "Splinters from Shakespeare". Quadrant. 60 (1–2): 49.

See also

• Clive James on Television
• Clive James's Postcard from...

Notes

1. Robert McCrum "Clive James – a life in writing", The Guardian, 5 July 2013
2. Clive James — writer, TV broadcaster and critic — dies aged 80 Archived 1 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine ABC News, 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
3. Waterson, Jim; Cain, Sian (27 November 2019). "Clive James, writer, broadcaster and TV critic, dies aged 80". The Guardian.
4. James, C., Unreliable Memoirs, Pan Books, 1981, p. 29.
5. "A Writer Whose Pen Never Rests, Even Facing Death". The New York Times. 31 October 2014. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
6. Turton, Michael (6 September 2017). "Forgotten WWII Plane Crash in Taitung". The View from Taiwan. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
7. Jeffries, Stuart (27 November 2019). "Clive James Obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
8. McGreevy, Ronan. "Clive James still haunted by death of father after world war". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
9. Decca Aitkenhead "Clive James: 'I would have been an obvious first choice for cocaine death. I could use up a lifetime's supply of anything in two weeks'" Archived 31 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 25 May 2009.
10. "James, Clive Vivian Leopold". Who's Who 2019. A & C Black. 1 December 2018. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U21739.
11. Beresford, Bruce (8 September 2018). "Bruce Beresford: At last, making the film that obsessed me for 30 years". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
12. Trinca, Helen (20 March 2013). Madeleine: A Life of Madeleine St John. Text Publishing. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-921961-13-7.
13. "Kogarah revisited: author Clive James returns". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 48, no. 28. Sydney, Australia. 10 December 1980. p. 21. Retrieved 29 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
14. James, Clive (1990). May week was in June. Volume 3 of Unreliable Memoirs. London: Cape. pp. 49, 107–10. ISBN 978-0-224-02787-8.
15. "Clive James obituary: 'A man of substance'". BBC Online. 27 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
16. Mangan, Lucy (28 November 2019). "My debt to Clive James, the howlingly funny critic who made TV-writing sing". The Guardian.
17. James, Clive (5 June 1980). "A Blizzard of Tiny Kisses". London Review of Books. Vol. 2, no. 11. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
18. "Clive James on Television". Pan Macmillan. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
19. "Waking up in Europa". TLS. London.
20. "The Oxford book of essays". WorldCat. 28 November 1991. OCLC 21335450. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
21. Schillinger, Liesl (8 April 2007). "What Kind of Car Is a Ford Madox Ford?". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
22. Lezard, Nicholas (10 July 2010). "The Revolt of the Pendulum: Essays 2005-2008 by Clive James". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
23. Garner, Dwight (24 July 2007). "The Book of My Enemy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
24. "Austlit — The River in the Sky by Clive James". Austlit. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
25. "Pete Atkin discography". PeteAtkin.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
26. "Midnight Voices". 27 November 1997. Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
27. Craven, Peter, "Master craftsman's crowning glory" Archived 15 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 June 2013.
28. Goldsworthy, Peter. "Clive James's Dante is simply divine" Archived 15 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine, The Australian, 1 June 2013.
29. Luzzi, Joseph."This Could Be 'Heaven', or This Could Be 'Hell'" Archived 15 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 19 April 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
30. Wallace, Arminta. "The Silver Castle, by Clive James". Irish Times, 17 January 1998. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
31. "Toffs against Toughs". Independent. 26 September 1998. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
32. "Clive James joins Martin Amis to discuss ageing". The University of Manchester.
33. "The Observer, November 1976". Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2007.
34. "Andrew Collins on working with Clive James: "to collaborate with him was like winning a competition"". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
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36. Gruber, Fiona (25 September 2015). "A late afternoon with Clive James". ABC. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
37. "A Point of View". BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
38. James, Clive (30 March 2007). "The clock's ticking on torture". BBC News Magazine. Archived from the original on 15 March 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2007.
39. "Young, gifted and black". BBC News Magazine. 23 March 2007. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2007.
40. James, Clive (16 February 2007). "The name-changing fidgets". BBC News Magazine. Archived from the original on 15 March 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2007.
41. "Shortlist 2008" Archived 14 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Orwell Prize
42. "Book of the Week – The Blaze of Obscurity". BBC. 19 October 2009. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
43. "Museum of Curiosity on Radio 4 web site". BBC. 25 December 2009. Archived from the original on 19 December 2009. Retrieved 25 December 2009.
44. "A Point of View: Clive James – Downloads". BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 15 October 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
45. Campbell, Interview by James (9 October 2009). "A life in books: Clive James". The Guardian.
46. "No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 7.
47. Stephen Brook (25 April 2008). "Hari and James take Orwell prizes". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
48. "Royal Society of Literature All Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
49. "Television Special Award in 2015". BAFTA. 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
50. "The British Academy President's Medal". British Academy. Archived from the original on 26 May 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
51. "Sydney Writers Walk". Monument Australia. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
52. Appleyard, Bryan (12 November 2006). "Interview Clive James". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
53. "On the Eve of Disaster". Archived from the original on 24 June 2007. Retrieved 28 May 2007.
54. "Clive James". www.abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
55. "Bill Moyers talks with Cultural Critic, Clive James". PBS. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
56. "Still looking for the western feminists". BBC News. 22 May 2009. Archived from the original on 26 May 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
57. "Clive James' Chapter in Climate Change: The Facts 2017". 27 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
58. "Enough Rope with Andrew Denton – episode 84: Clive James (04/07/2005)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
59. "Discussion between Richard Dawkins and Clive James at the Edinburgh Book Festival". Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
60. "The Burma Campaign UK: AboutUs". Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2007.
61. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
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63. "Star's secret affair". ninemsn: A Current Affair. 23 April 2012. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
64. Thorne, Frank (1 May 2011). "Clive James: I'm fighting a leukaemia 'that couldn't wait to start'". Express.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
65. "Mourning My Friend, Princess Diana". The New Yorker. 8 September 1997.
66. "Clive James on Diana". www.peteatkin.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
67. Yates, Robert (24 October 2009). "The Blaze of Obscurity: The TV Years by Clive James". The Guardian. The Observer. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
68. Haynes, Deborah (12 May 2007). "Culture vulture". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
69. Windschuttle, Keith (29 November 2019). "Clive James and that 'Australian tone of voice'". Quadrant Online. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
70. "Clive James replaces Fatty". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 June 2005. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
71. Clive James, May Week Was in June,(1990) Picador 1991 p.230'I also installed my ashtray: a hubcap off a Bedford van, it could hold the stubs of eighty cigarettes, so I only had to empty it once a day.'
72. Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2006 p.141:'I smoked so much that I needed the hubcap of a Bedford van as an ashtray. I had found the hubcap lying in the gutter of Trumpington Street, and thought: 'That will make an ideal ashtray.'
73. Contrary to this, Clive James stated in BBC Radio's The Museum of Curiosity Series 2: Episode 6, "I once used the hubcap of a British Bedford DorMobile as an ashtray because I smoked a lot, but not even I could fill up the hubcap of a British Bedford DorMobile..."
74. Smoking the Memory | clivejames.com Archived 12 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine In A Point of View he notes that this account of giving up smoking needed updating as he had gone back to it.
75. "Smoking, my lost love". BBC News. 3 August 2007. Archived from the original on 17 January 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
76. "Clive James battles leukaemia". Sydney Morning Herald. April 2011. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
77. "Clive James tells BBC "I am dying, I am near the end"". Belfast Telegraph. 21 June 2012. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
78. "Clive James: 'I'm getting near the end'". BBC News: Entertainment and Arts. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
79. "Clive James reflects on career, poetry and death in interview with Kerry O'Brien". ABC News. 7 September 2013. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
80. "Clive James reads his farewell poem, Japanese Maple, in this tribute by animator Lucy Fahey". ABC News. 28 November 2019. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
81. "'Japanese Maple' by Clive James". The New York Times. 27 November 2019. Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
82. Clive James; Charlie Stayt (31 March 2015). Clive James 'near to death but thankful for life' (Video). London: BBC. Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
83. "Clive James: 'Still being alive is embarrassing". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
84. "Reports of my death". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
85. Zayed, Alya (27 November 2019). "Australian broadcaster Clive James dies in Cambridge". Cambridge News. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
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External links

• Official website, includes a video section of James's recorded video interviews with artists, writers, filmmakers and actors at the other end of the sofa at his London home.
• "Clive James – Filmography". BFI. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
• Clive James at IMDb
• "Interfacing With Clive James", Brendan Bernhard in The New York Sun, 18 January 2006
• Interview for the Leicester Mercury, 7 February 2009
• McDonald, Alyssa (4 February 2010). "The NS interview: Clive James". New Statesman. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
• "Freedom Wears a Crown: Clive James", Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, 28 August 2007
• "James Saves the Queen", The Age, 25 August 2007
• "When Mary Beard Met Clive James". Front Row Late. 21 December 2018. BBC. Retrieved 1 March 2020. (Currently unavailable).
• "Clive James obituary: 'A man of substance'". BBC. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
• Fidler, Richard (12 September 2012). "Raconteur Clive James reflects on a rich and prolific career". ABC (Podcast). Retrieved 1 March 2020.