The Booker Prize Podcast

Our August Book of the Month: Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark

Listen Later

Muriel Spark was a prolific poet and novelist who was nominated for the Booker Prize three times over the course of her writing career. In 1981, Spark's Loitering with Intent was shortlisted for the prize alongside that year's eventual winner Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. The novel is a wonderfully gossipy and entertaining literary joyride which sees a would-be novelist takes inspiration from her life only to find the tables are mysteriously turned – and it's our August Book of the Month.


In this episode Jo and James:

  • Continue getting to know each other by chatting about the life event James would start his memoir with and Jo's favourite albums of all time
  • Share a brief biography of Muriel Spark
  • Give a slightly spoiler-y account of what happens in Loitering with Intent
  • Discuss how much of Muriel Spark's writing may be influenced or based on her own life
  • Consider why Muriel Spark is not as widely read now as she once was
  • Who should read Loitering with Intent


    • Reading list:

    • Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
    • The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
    • The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark
    • The Public Image by Muriel Spark
    • The Ballad of Peckham Rye by Muriel Spark
    • Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
    • The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan


      • A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.


      Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes.

      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store
      The Booker Prize PodcastBy The Booker Prize
      • 4.4
      • 4.4
      • 4.4
      • 4.4
      • 4.4

      4.4

      59 ratings

      More shows like The Booker Prize Podcast

      View all
      The Book Review by The New York Times

      The Book Review

      3,855 Listeners

      The New Yorker: Fiction by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The New Yorker: Fiction

      3,322 Listeners

      World Book Club by BBC World Service

      World Book Club

      365 Listeners

      The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

      The LRB Podcast

      292 Listeners

      Bookclub by BBC Radio 4

      Bookclub

      236 Listeners

      London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop

      London Review Bookshop Podcast

      128 Listeners

      Backlisted by Backlisted

      Backlisted

      581 Listeners

      The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

      2,111 Listeners

      The Waterstones Podcast by Waterstones

      The Waterstones Podcast

      36 Listeners

      You're Booked by Daisy Buchanan

      You're Booked

      50 Listeners

      Today in Focus by The Guardian

      Today in Focus

      998 Listeners

      NPR's Book of the Day by NPR

      NPR's Book of the Day

      606 Listeners

      Sara & Cariad's Weirdos Book Club by Plosive

      Sara & Cariad's Weirdos Book Club

      61 Listeners

      Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

      Critics at Large | The New Yorker

      589 Listeners

      A Good Read by BBC Radio 4

      A Good Read

      13 Listeners