Clive James was the author of more than forty books. As well as essays, he published collections of literary and television criticism, travel writing, verse and novels, plus five volumes of autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs, Falling Towards England, May Week Was In June, North Face of Soho and The Blaze of Obscurity. As a television performer he appeared regularly for both the BBC and ITV, most notably as writer and presenter of the Postcard series of travel documentaries. He published several poetry collections, including the Sunday Times bestseller Sentenced to Life, and a translation of Dante's The Divine Comedy, which was also a Sunday Times bestseller. In 1992 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia and in 2003 he was awarded the Philip Hodgins memorial medal for literature. He held honorary doctorates from Sydney University and the University of East Anglia. In 2012 he was appointed CBE and in 2013, an Officer of the Order of Australia. He died in 2019.
It is one of the most tender, frank and, above all, funny accounts of growing up I have ever read -- Sir Michael Parkinson, on <i>Unreliable Memoirs</i> You can't put it down once started. Its addictive powers stun all normal, decent resistance within seconds. Not to be missed -- <i>Sunday Times</i>, on <i>Unreliable Memoirs</i> A larger-than-life story packed with insight and hard-earned self-knowledge. Many autobiographies should never have been written. Clive has written four so far and I, for one, hope there are more to come. -- Melton Times, on <i>North Face of Soho</i> Clive James is an intellectual as well as a joker, a wise man as well as a wit. * Observer * Nobody writes like Clive James; he has invented a style. * Spectator * All that really needs to be said to recommend Unreliable Memoirs is that James writes exactly as he talks, which is all his millions of fans could wish -- <i>Evening Standard</i>, on <i>Unreliable Memoirs</i>