CANDIA MCWILLIAM (1955–) was born in Edinburgh, the daughter of a classically educated modernist who worked for the Scottish National Trust. Her mother died in tragic circumstances. She was adopted by a family on Colonsay, and took a job working for Vogue. She had a celebrated prose style, was a famous beauty of exceptional intelligence and married first an English earl, then a brilliant Oxford don. Three dazzling novels and a volume of short stories over nine years were followed by a long silence. The reasons for that, including a savage drink problem, were set out in a scarifying memoir, What To Look For In Winter. In 2006, following a year judging the Booker Prize, a rare medical condition caused McWilliam to go blind, but she was cured after some years by radical surgery.
JANICE GALLOWAY (1955–) was born in Saltcoats in Scotland. Her father was a bus driver and her mother a cleaner. She read Music and English at Glasgow University before working as a schoolteacher. Her mother enabled her to have an abortion so that she could continue her education. She was Writer in Residence at four prisons and has been Research Fellow at the British Library. Her father was killed in a fireworks accident.
ALI SMITH (1962–) was born in Inverness. She studied at the University of Aberdeen and then at Cambridge for a PhD, unfinished. She worked as a university lecturer and currently lives in Cambridge.
TESSA HADLEY (1956–) was born in Bristol. She was educated at Cambridge and became a teacher, first in a school then in extramural evening classes. She wrote while bringing up her children. Her first novel, Accidents in the Home, was published in 2002. Her short stories have been regularly published by the New Yorker.
ADAM MAREK (1974–) is the son of a merchant sailor and was born because of confusion between time zones and the required timing of the contraceptive pill. His conception was announced by a Ouija board. He worked at a pillow factory and a film production company. He began writing with the W. H. Smith Young Writers’ Competition, in which he was highly commended at the age of eleven.
JON MCGREGOR (1976–) was born in Bermuda. He studied Media Technology and Production at Bradford University. He moved to Nottingham and lived on a narrowboat. His novels and volumes of short stories have been awarded many prizes. From October 2013, he announced his intention to refuse to use all technological communication other than the telephone.
ZADIE SMITH (1975–) was born in London. She changed her name from Sadie in 1989. She was educated at Hampstead Comprehensive School and King’s, Cambridge, where she occasionally performed as a singer and actor. Her first novel was taken on by a publisher very soon after her leaving university. From 2002 onwards she started spending time in America, and lived for a year in Rome. Interest in her daily existence was often in excess of that experienced by most writers of fiction. Her media profile often started to include facts invented by bored and possibly delusional journalists, such as the possession of a non-existent whirlpool bath driving a non-existent neighbour to a non-existent psychosis.
Acknowledgements
‘Bind Your Hair’, Robert Aickman.
First published in Robert Aickman, Dark Entries: Curious and Macabre Ghost Stories (London: Collins, 1964). Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. Copyright © Robert Aickman, 1964.
‘Mason’s Life’, Kingsley Amis.
First published in The Sunday Times Magazine (24 December 1972) and then in Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss (eds.), Best SF: 1973 (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1974). Reprinted by permission of the Wylie Agency (UK) Ltd. Copyright © Kingsley Amis, 1972.
‘Career Move’, Martin Amis.
First published in The New Yorker (29 June 1992) and then in Martin Amis, Heavy Water and Other Stories (London: Jonathan Cape, 1998). Reprinted by permission of the Wylie Agency (UK) Ltd. Copyright © Martin Amis, 1998.
‘The Longstop’, Beryl Bainbridge.
First published in Michael Meyer (ed.), Summer Days: Writers on Cricket (London: Eyre Methuen, 1981). Reprinted by permission of Johnson & Alcock Ltd. Copyright © The Estate of Beryl Bainbridge, 1981.
‘The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D’, J. G. Ballard.
First published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (December 1967) and then in Judith Merril (ed.), SF12 (New York: Delacorte Press, 1968). Reprinted by permission of the Wylie Agency (UK) Ltd. Copyright © J. G. Ballard, 1967.
‘The Dancing-Mistress’, Elizabeth Bowen.
First published in Elizabeth Bowen, Joining Charles and Other Stories (London: Constable and Co., 1929). Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown Group Ltd, London, on behalf of The Beneficiaries of the Estate of Elizabeth Bowen. Copyright © Elizabeth Bowen, 1929.
‘Red Rubber Gloves’, Christine Brooke-Rose.
First published in John Burke (ed.), Tales of Unease (London: Pan Books, 1966). Reprinted by permission of The Christine Brooke-Rose Estate. Copyright © Christine Brooke-Rose, 1966.
‘Racine and the Tablecloth’, A. S. Byatt.
First published in A. S. Byatt, Sugar and Other Stories (London: Chatto & Windus, 1987). Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Limited. Copyright © A. S. Byatt, 1987.
‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’, Angela Carter.
First published in British Vogue (1979) and then, revised, in Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (London: Victor Gollancz, 1979). Reprinted by permission of The Estate of Angela Carter, c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN. Copyright © Angela Carter, 1979.
‘Nineteen’, Jack Common.
First published in The Adelphi (September 1931). Reprinted by permission of Sally Magill. Copyright © Jack Common, 1931.
‘Someone Like You’, Roald Dahl.
First published in Town & Country (November 1945) and then in Roald Dahl, Over to You (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1946). Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates. Copyright © Roald Dahl, 1945.
‘A Human Condition’, Rhys Davies.
First published in The New Yorker (24 September 1949) and in Rhys Davies, Boy with a Trumpet (London: William Heinemann, 1949). Reprinted by permission of Dr Meic Stephens, Secretary, The Rhys Davies Trust. Copyright © Rhys Davies, 1949.
‘Bobby’s Room’, Douglas Dunn.
First published in The New Yorker (16 January 1984) and then in Douglas Dunn, Secret Villages (London: Faber & Faber, 1985). Reprinted by permission of Faber & Faber Ltd. Copyright © Douglas Dunn, 1985.
‘The Means of Escape’, Penelope Fitzgerald.
First published in Marsha Rowe (ed.), Infidelity (London: Chatto & Windus, 1993). Reprinted by permission of The Estate of Penelope Fitzgerald, c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN. Copyright © Penelope Fitzgerald, 1993.
‘last thing’, Janice Galloway.
First published in Janice Galloway, Where You Find It (London: Jonathan Cape, 1996). Reprinted by permission of Blake Friedmann. Copyright © Janice Galloway, 1996.
‘Five Letters from an Eastern Empire’, Alasdair Gray.
First published in Words Magazine (1979) and then in Alasdair Gray, Unlikely Stories, Mostly (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 1983). Reprinted by permission of Canongate Books Ltd. Copyright © Alasdair Gray, 1979.
‘A Wedding’, G. F. Green. First published in The Spectator (6 August 1937) and then in Edward J. O’Brien (ed.), The Best British Stories of 1938, and the Yearbook of the British, Irish and Colonial Short Story (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1938). Reprinted by permission of the G. F. Green Estate. Copyright © G. F. Green, 1937.
‘The Lull’, Henry Green. First published in New Writing and Daylight (Summer 1943) and then in John Lehmann (ed.), Pleasures of New Writing: An Anthology of Poems, Stories and Other Prose Pieces from the Pages of New Writing (London: John Lehmann, 1952). Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Limited. Copyright © Henry Green, 1943.
‘The Hint of an Explanation’, Graham Greene.
First published in Commonweal and The Month (both in February 1949) and then in Graham Greene, Twenty-One
Stories (London: William Heinemann, 1954). Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates. Copyright © Graham Greene, 1949.
‘Buckets of Blood’, Tessa Hadley.
First published in Granta 89: The Factory (Spring 2005) and then in Tessa Hadley, Sunstroke and Other Stories (London: Jonathan Cape, 2007). Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Limited. Copyright © Tessa Hadley, 2007.
‘Old Sweat’, Leslie Halward.
First published in The Left Review (August 1937) and then in Edward J. O’Brien (ed.), The Best British Stories of 1938, and the Yearbook of the British, Irish and Colonial Short Story (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1938). Reprinted by permission of A. R. Halward. Copyright © Leslie Halward, 1937.
‘Grist’, Georgina Hammick.
First published in Georgina Hammick, People for Lunch (London: Methuen, 1987). Reprinted by permission of the author and The Sayle Literary Agency. Copyright © Georgina Hammick, 1987.
‘The German Prisoner’, James Hanley.
First published in a limited edition, James Hanley, The German Prisoner, with an introduction by Richard Aldington (London: Privately printed, [1930]). Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates. Copyright © James Hanley, 1930.
‘The Mouse’, Francis King.
First published in The Listener (1951) and then in Francis King, So Hurt and Humiliated and Other Stories (London: Longmans, 1959). Reprinted by permission of A. M. Heath & Co. Ltd. Copyright © Francis King, 1951.
‘Notes for a Case History’, Doris Lessing.
First published in Doris Lessing, A Man and Two Women (London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1963). Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. Copyright © Doris Lessing, 1963.
‘Private Jones’, Alun Lewis.
First published in Alun Lewis, The Last Inspection and Other Stories (London: Allen & Unwin, 1942). Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. Copyright © Alun Lewis, 1942.
‘Pornography’, Ian McEwan.
First published in The New Review (February 1976) and then in Ian McEwan, In Between the Sheets (London: Jonathan Cape, 1978). Reprinted by permission of the author, c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN. Copyright © Ian McEwan, 1978.
‘The Remains’, Jon McGregor.
First published in Jon McGregor, This Isn’t the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012). Reprinted by permission of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Copyright © Jon McGregor, 2012.
‘Cardboard City’, Shena Mackay.
First published in Shena Mackay, Dreams of Dead Women’s Handbags (London: Heinemann, 1987). Reprinted by permission of Little, Brown and Rogers, Coleridge & White, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN. Copyright © Shena Mackay, 1987.
‘Three Old Men’, George Mackay Brown.
First published in The Tablet (21 December 1991) and then in George Mackay Brown, Winter Tales (London: John Murray, 1995). Copyright © George Mackay Brown, 1991.
‘Death of a Comrade’, Julian Maclaren-Ross.
First published in Tribune (28 August 1942) and then in Julian Maclaren-Ross: Selected Stories (Stockport: Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2004). Reprinted by permission of The Estate of Julian Maclaren-Ross. Copyright © Julian Maclaren-Ross, 1942.
‘Phonefun Limited’, Bernard MacLaverty.
First appeared: Glasgow Theatre Club, Tron Theatre, 1981; BBC Radio, Northern Ireland, 1982; and then in Bernard MacLaverty, A Time to Dance and Other Stories (London: Jonathan Cape Ltd, 1982). Reprinted by permission of the author, c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN. Copyright © Bernard MacLaverty, 2013.
‘The Only Only’, Candia McWilliam.
First published in Andrew Motion and Candice Rodd (eds.), New Writing 3 (London: Minerva, in association with the British Council, 1994). Copyright © Candia McWilliam, 1994.
‘The 40-Litre Monkey’, Adam Marek.
First published in the Bridport Prize Anthology 2003, and then in Adam Marek, Instruction Manual for Swallowing (Manchester: Comma Press, 2007). Reprinted by permission of Comma Press. Copyright © Adam Marek, 2007.
‘Baby Clutch’, Adam Mars-Jones.
First published in Granta 27: Death (Summer 1989) and then in Giles Gordon and David Hughes (eds.), Best Short Stories 1990 (London, Heinemann, 1990). Reprinted by permission of United Agents. Copyright © Adam Mars-Jones, 1992.
‘Winter Cruise’, W. Somerset Maugham.
First published (as ‘The Captain and Miss Reid’) in Cosmopolitan (June 1943) and then in W. Somerset Maugham, Creatures of Circumstance (London: William Heinemann, 1947). Reprinted by permission of United Agents LLP on behalf of The Royal Literary Fund. Copyright © W. Somerset Maugham, 1943.
‘The Perfect Tenants’, V. S. Naipaul.
First published in V. S. Naipaul, A Flag on the Island (London: André Deutsch, 1967). Reprinted by permission of the Wylie Agency (UK) Ltd. Copyright © V. S. Naipaul 1967, renewed 1995.
‘The Key of the Field’, T. F. Powys.
First published in a limited edition, T. F. Powys, The Key of the Field (Furnival Books, 1), with a foreword by Sylvia Townsend Warner (London: William Jackson (Books) Ltd, 1930) and then in The Furnival Book of Short Stories (London: Joiner & Steele, 1932). Reprinted by permission of Pollinger Limited on behalf of The Estate of T. F. Powys. Copyright © T. F. Powys, 1930.
‘The Camberwell Beauty’, V. S. Pritchett.
First published in V. S. Pritchett, The Camberwell Beauty [and Other Stories] (London: Chatto & Windus, 1974). Reprinted by permission of Peters Fraser & Dunlop (www.petersfraserdunlop.com) on behalf of The Estate of V. S. Pritchett. Copyright © V. S. Pritchett, 1974.
‘Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers’, Jean Rhys.
First published (as ‘Dear, Darling Mr Ramage’) in The Times (28 June 1969) and then in Jean Rhys, Sleep It Off Lady (London: André Deutsch, 1976). Copyright © Jean Rhys Ltd, 1969.1
‘A Contest of Ladies’, William Sansom.
First published (as ‘A Contest of Ladies: A Summer Idyll’) in The Cornhill Magazine (Summer 1952) and then in William Sansom, A Contest of Ladies (London: The Hogarth Press, 1956). Reprinted by permission of Greene and Heaton. Copyright © William Sansom, 1952.
‘Knock on Wood’, Samuel Selvon.
First published in Evergreen Review, 3, 9 (1959). Reprinted by permission of The Estate of Samuel Selvon. Copyright © Samuel Selvon, 1959.
‘Mimic’, Alan Sillitoe.
First published in Encounter (January 1969) and then in A. D. Maclean (ed.), Winter’s Tales 15 (London: Macmillan, 1969). Reprinted by permission of The Estate of Alan Sillitoe, c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN. Copyright © Alan Sillitoe, 1973.
‘miracle survivors’, Ali Smith.
First published in Ali Smith, Other Stories and other stories (London: Granta Books, 1999). Reprinted by permission of the Wylie Agency (UK) Ltd. Copyright © Ali Smith, 1999.
‘The Embassy of Cambodia’, Zadie Smith.
First published in Great Britain by Hamish Hamilton (London, 2013) and in the USA in The New Yorker (11 February 2013). Reprinted by permission of the author, c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN. Copyright © Zadie Smith, 2013.
‘Bang-Bang You’re Dead’, Muriel Spark.
First published in Muriel Spark, Voices at Play: Stories and Ear-Pieces (London: Macmillan and Co., 1961). Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates. Copyright © Muriel Spark, 1961.
‘The Rook’, L. A. G. Strong.
First published in The Fortnightly Review (November 1931) and in L. A. G. Strong, The English Captain and Other Stories (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1931). Reprinted by permission of Peters Fraser & Dunlop (www.petersfraserdunlop.com) on behalf of The Estate of L. A. G. Strong. Copyright © L. A. G. Strong, 1931.
‘In and Out the Houses’, Elizabeth Taylor.
First published in The Saturday Evening Post (14 December 1968) and then in Elizabeth
Taylor, The Devastating Boys and Other Stories (London: Chatto & Windus, 1972). Reprinted by permission of Johnson & Alcock Ltd. Copyright © The Estate of Elizabeth Taylor, 1968.
‘The Trumpet Shall Sound’, Sylvia Townsend Warner.
First published in Sylvia Townsend Warner, A Garland of Straw: Twenty-Eight Stories (New York: Viking Press, 1943). Reprinted by permission of The Estate of Sylvia Townsend Warner. Copyright © Sylvia Townsend Warner, 1943.
‘Cruise’, Evelyn Waugh.
First published in Harper’s Bazaar (London) (February 1933) and then in Work Suspended and Other Stories Written before the Second World War (London: Chapman & Hall, 1948). Reprinted by permission of the Wylie Agency (UK) Ltd. Copyright © The Estate of Laura Waugh, 2011.
‘Courage’, Malachi Whitaker.
First published in Malachi Whitaker, Honeymoon and Other Stories (London: Jonathan Cape, 1934). Reprinted by permission of Michael Whitaker. Copyright © Malachi Whitaker, 1934.
‘The Point of Thirty Miles’, T. H. White.
First published in T. H. White, The Maharajah and Other Stories (London: Macdonald, 1981). Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates. Copyright © T. H. White, 1981.
‘The Wrong Set’, Angus Wilson.
First published in Angus Wilson, The Wrong Set and Other Stories (London: Secker & Warburg, 1949). Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown Group Ltd, London, on behalf of The Beneficiaries of the Estate of Angus Wilson. Copyright © Angus Wilson, 1949.
‘Unpleasantness at Bludleigh Court’, P. G. Wodehouse.
First published in The Strand Magazine (February 1929) and then in Mr Mulliner Speaking (London: Herbert Jenkins, 1929). Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Limited. Copyright © P. G. Wodehouse, 1929.
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright-holders of the copyright material in this book and credit the sources of the stories. Penguin regrets any oversight and upon written notification will rectify any omission in future reprints or editions. The editor and publisher gratefully acknowledge the above for permission to reprint stories.
The Penguin Book of the British Short Story Page 88