Colin MacInnes (20 August 1914 – 22 April 1976) was an English novelist and journalist.

Early life

MacInnes was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the son of singer James Campbell McInnes and novelist Angela Mackail, who was the granddaughter of the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jam ...

artist

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...

and also related to

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

and

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...

. MacInnes's parents divorced and his mother remarried. The family relocated to Australia in 1920, MacInnes returning in 1931. For much of his childhood, he was known as Colin Thirkell, the surname of his mother's second husband; later he used his father's name McInnes, afterwards changing it to MacInnes. He worked in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

from 1930 until 1935, then studied painting in London at the

London Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in Aug ...

school and the School of Drawing and Painting in

Euston Road Euston Road is a road in Central London that runs from Marylebone Road to King's Cross. The route is part of the London Inner Ring Road and forms part of the London congestion charge zone boundary. It is named after Euston Hall, the family s ...

. Towards the end of his life, he stayed at the home of Martin Green, his publisher, and Green's wife Fiona, in

Fitzrovia Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urban ...

, where MacInnes spent time, regarding their small family as his own adoptive one until his death.

Career

MacInnes served in the

British Intelligence Corps The Intelligence Corps (Int Corps) is a corps of the British Army. It is responsible for gathering, analysing and disseminating military intelligence and also for counter-intelligence and security. The Director of the Intelligence Corps is a br ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and worked in occupied Germany after the European armistice. These experiences resulted in the writing of his first novel, '' To the Victors the Spoils''. Soon after his return to England, he worked for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

until he could earn a living from his writing. He was the author of a number of books depicting London

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...

and black immigrant culture during the 1950s, in particular '' City of Spades'' (1957), '' Absolute Beginners'' (1959) and '' Mr Love & Justice'' (1960), known collectively as the "London trilogy". Many of his books were set in the

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Ma ...

area of London, then a poor and racially mixed area, home to many new immigrants and which suffered a race riot during 1958. Openly

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

, he wrote on subjects including urban squalor, racial issues, bisexuality, drugs, anarchy, and "decadence". ''Mr Love & Justice'' concerns two characters, Frank Love and Edward Justice, during late 1950s London. Mr Love is a novice ponce (

pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

); Mr Justice is a police officer newly transferred to the plain-clothes division of the Vice Squad. Gradually their lives intermesh.

Adaptations and influence

'' Absolute Beginners'' was filmed in 1986 by director

Julien Temple Julien Temple (born 26 November 1953) is a British film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including '' The Great Rock 'n' Rol ...

. In 2007 a stage adaptation by Roy Williams was performed at the Lyric Theatre,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

, London.

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

appeared in the film '' Absolute Beginners'' and recorded the

title song A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

, which was a hit in England. '' City of Spades'' was adapted by Biyi Bandele as a radio play, directed by

Toby Swift Toby Swift is a radio drama director and producer for BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter ...

, broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

on 28 April 2001. MacInnes occurs as a character in '' Tainted Love'' (2005), Stewart Home's novel of 1960s and 1970s counterculture.Stewart Home, ''Tainted Love'', London: Virgin Books, 2005.

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music i ...

's albums '' England, Half English'' (2002) and '' Mr. Love & Justice'' (2008) borrowed their titles from books by MacInnes.

The Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...

released a single called " Absolute Beginners" in 1981.

Bibliography

* ''To the Victor the Spoils'' ( MacGibbon & Kee, 1950;

Allison & Busby Allison & Busby (A & B) is a publishing house based in London established by Clive Allison and Margaret Busby in 1967. The company has built up a reputation as a leading independent publisher. Background Launching as a publishing company in Ma ...

, 1986) * ''June in Her Spring'' (MacGibbon & Kee, 1952; Faber & Faber, 2008) * '' City of Spades'' (MacGibbon & Kee, 1957; Allison & Busby, 1980) * '' Absolute Beginners'' (MacGibbon & Kee, 1959; Allison & Busby, 1980) * ''Mr Love & Justice'' (MacGibbon & Kee, 1960; Allison & Busby, 1980) * ''England, Half English'' (MacGibbon & Kee, 1961) – a collection of previously published journalism * ''London, City of Any Dream'' (

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, 1962) – photo essay * ''Australia and New Zealand'' (Time Life, 1964) * ''All Day Saturday'' (MacGibbon & Kee, 1966) * ''Sweet Saturday Night'' (MacGibbon & Kee, 1967) – a history of British musichall * ''Westward to Laughter'' (MacGibbon & Kee, 1969) * '' Three Years to Play'' (MacGibbon & Kee, 1970) * ''Loving Them Both: A Study of Bisexuality'' (Martin Brian and O'Keeffe, 1973) * ''Out of the Garden'' (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

, 1974) * ''No Novel Reader'' (Martin Brian & O'Keeffe, 1975) * ''Out of the Way: Later Essays'' (Martin Brian & O'Keeffe, 1980) * ''Absolute MacInnes: The Best of Colin MacInnes'' (Allison & Busby, 1985) * ''Fancy Free'' Unpublished novel (MS and typescript); gifted to Fiona Green, 1973 * ''Visions of London'' (MacGibbon & Kee 1969)

References

External links