Great Lives

Holly Walsh on BS Johnson


Listen Later

BS Johnson was born in Hammersmith in 1933. A wartime evacuee, he never quite shook a sense of dislocation for the rest of his life. Holly's favourite book, she calls it the gateway drug to his work, is Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry. It's the tale of a disaffected accountant who applies the principles of double-entry book keeping to his own life; any perceived slight permits him to repay the same on somebody else. These stretch from minor acts of personal revenge to poisoning London's water and blowing up the House of Commons.

"The things I find attractive about him are the things I'm a little bit scared of. His work is so raw - it's so different to how I feel." Holly Walsh

Joining Holly and Matthew Parris is the novelist Jonathan Coe, author of The Rotter's Club and Like a Fiery Elephant, an award-winning biography of BS Johnson's life.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Great LivesBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2

4.2

461 ratings


More shows like Great Lives

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,441 Listeners

From Our Own Correspondent by BBC Radio 4

From Our Own Correspondent

368 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,812 Listeners

Start the Week by BBC Radio 4

Start the Week

152 Listeners

Front Row by BBC Radio 4

Front Row

127 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,653 Listeners

Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

292 Listeners

Thinking Allowed by BBC Radio 4

Thinking Allowed

300 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,774 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,124 Listeners

Desert Island Discs by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs

2,018 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

2,072 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,054 Listeners

Last Word by BBC Radio 4

Last Word

45 Listeners

In Our Time: History by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: History

1,870 Listeners

In Our Time: Culture by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Culture

598 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

227 Listeners

Bookclub by BBC Radio 4

Bookclub

244 Listeners

Private Passions by BBC Radio 3

Private Passions

38 Listeners

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle by BBC World Service

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle

4,196 Listeners

Americast by BBC News

Americast

728 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,069 Listeners

This Cultural Life by BBC Radio 4

This Cultural Life

91 Listeners

Young Again by BBC Radio 4

Young Again

50 Listeners