The Angry Years
What were the achievements of the ’angry’ writers who emerged in the fifties?
Historically, they gave birth to the satire movement of the 1960s-Beyond the
Fringe, That Was the Week that Was and Private Eye. Their satire and
irreverence aroused enthusiasm in man, and a new ‘anti-Establishment’ mood
developed from Look Back in Anger and The Outsider. All literary movements
acquire enemies, but the Angry Young Men of the 1950s accumulated more than
most. Why? Wilson takes us on a journey back to this era, and reveals
fascinating and sometimes disturbing stories from the Greats, including John
Osborne, Kingsley Amis, Kenneth Tynan and John Braine-to name but a few.
At all events, the story of that period makes a marvellously lively tale which,
most importantly, was recorded by someone who was actually there.