Hello, I'm Kirstie Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1986, and the presenter was Michael Parkinson. Our castaway is generally acknowledged as Britain's best post-war novelist.

It's 32 years since he published his first novel Lucky Jim.

His 16th has just won him the Booker Prize.

It's called The Old Devils, and it prompted the novelist and critic Anthony Burgess to state

There's one old devil who's writing better than he ever did. He's referring to Kingsley,

Emis. Kingsley first of all congratulations. Thank you very much right.

Reading about you I got this feeling that you're not going to enjoy this desert island.

You don't like loneliness to you?

No, I wasn't made to flourish or even survive very much on my own and it's partly company and partly I don't know something more basic

whatever that may be. What about looking after yourself and may you a practical man in any sense?

I hope to say you know I can just about scramble an egg, given a cookery book and plenty of time.

Well how much consolation then would music be on this island?

How much has it been in your life?

Well it's always been a great thing for me.

And as I go older, I find it doesn't dim at all.

In fact, it becomes more important, and I think I see more in what I thought I knew quite well

years ago.

Let's the number first choice of music.

Yes, well this is a good example of that.

It's a waltz by Johann Strauss' tales from Vienna Woods.

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