Clive James — writer, TV broadcaster and critic — dies aged 80 ABC News, 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019. It is a book of embarrassment. Clive in his room lets the neighbourhood fat kid climb on top of the wardrobe to "bed bomb" in a flying belly flop onto Clive's mattress. "He had … a behind like a large bag of soil …The frame of the bed snapped off its supports with the noise of a firing squad …" The author hides from his mother. "Once again it was very dark under the house."

The Complete Unreliable Memoirs: Volume One - Pan Macmillan

I first read this when I was a young teenager and it's a book I've returned to time and time again. Sir Michael Parkinson, on Unreliable Memoirs You can’t put it down once started. Its addictive powers stun all normal, decent resistance within seconds. Not to be missed ( Unreliable Memoirs) Mangan, Lucy (28 November 2019). "My debt to Clive James, the howlingly funny critic who made TV-writing sing". The Guardian. His real name was Warrant Officer First Class Ronald McDonald, but he was known throughout the army as Ronnie the One. Responsible for battalion discipline, he had powers of life and death over all non-commissioned personnel and could even bring charges against officers up to the rank of Captain. . . . It was because he was always screaming so hard. At that moment he was screaming directly at me. 'GED-YAHAHCARD!' Later on a translator told me that this mean (sic) 'Get your hair cut' and could generally be taken as a friendly greeting, especially if you could still see his eyes. . . . (pp. 143-44)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. [45] 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. He then goes on to write: ‘Gradually even the most scornful among my listeners came to accept that what Jamesie said wasn’t meant to be true – only entertaining. If it wasn’t that, key figures drifted away, and soon everyone else was gone along with them, leaving me alone with my uneaten sandwiches.’ Wallace, Arminta. "The Silver Castle, by Clive James". Irish Times, 17 January 1998. Retrieved 28 November 2019.

The Whole Secret of Clive James · LRB 22 May 1980 Karl Miller · The Whole Secret of Clive James · LRB 22 May 1980

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. [43] 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. [44] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2010. [54] 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. [55] In 2014, he was awarded the President's Medal by the British Academy. [56]In 1962, James emigrated to the UK, 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 [12] (disguised as "Dave Dalziel" in the first three volumes of James's memoirs), was a neighbour of Australian artist Brett Whiteley, [13] 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. [7] Robert McCrum (5 July 2013). "Clive James – a life in writing". The Guardian . Retrieved 31 October 2021.