The Complete Unreliable Memoirs

CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS OF PICADOR BOOKS

‘I was born in 1939. The other big event of that year was the outbreak of the Second World War, but for the moment, that did not affect me.’

Collected here for the first time in are the first three volumes of Clive James’s million-copy selling autobiographical series: Unreliable Memoirs, Falling Towards England, and May Week Was In June. In typically hilarious and self-effacing style, James proves a hugely entertaining and erudite guide to his own remarkable life, with these volumes detailing James’s childhood adventures in the suburbs of post-war Sydney, his excited arrival in London as a young man and aspiring poet, and the campus life at Cambridge that led to him falling in love (often) and getting married (once).

This is one the most beloved and acclaimed series of memoirs of all time, from a true national treasure.

About the Author

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.