This novel had its birth in the death of Martin Amis's closest friend, the incomparable Christopher Hitchens, and it is within that profound and sprawling friendship that Inside Story unfurls. From their early days as young magazine staffers in London through romantic entanglements and literary gossip, Hitch was Amis's wingman and adviser. Amis's quest is a tender, witty exploration of the hardest questions: how to live, how to grieve, and how to die. In search of his answers, he surveys the horrors of the twentieth century and the still-unfolding impact of the 9/11 attacks on the twenty-first—and considers what all of this has taught him about how to be a writer. The result is a love letter to life—and to the people in his life—that achieves a new level of confidentiality with his readers, giving us a previously unseen portrait of his extraordinary world.