Main content

Brian Aldiss

Kirsty Young's castaway is writer Brian Aldiss.

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the author Brian Aldiss. He is best known for pioneering, alongside JG Ballard, a new wave of British science fiction writing in the 1960s. He says science fiction is not so much a prediction of the future as a metaphor for the human condition; and for him, at least, writing it offered an escape route and a filter through which to view his own extraordinary upbringing. He grew up in a small Norfolk village in a very devout and austere home. While his father was distant, his mother was still suffering from the grief after her first child, a daughter, was still-born. He was the second child and even when he was very small, remembers feeling a strong sense of his mother's disappointment in him.

The army finally offered a way out for him and it was on his return to England that he started writing seriously while also working in a bookshop. One of his early works was a short story describing the sadness felt by a boy who was never able to please his parents, which was turned into a film by Stanley Kubrick. While he remains best known for his science fiction writing - and has won every major award in the field - he has also written novels, poetry and biographies and short stories. Now, he says, he aims not for high sales but to become a better and better writer.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Old Rivers (with the Johnny Mann Singers) by Walter Brennan
Book: Biography of John Osborne by John Halpern
Luxury: A banjo

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 2 Feb 2007 09:00
麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

Ann Daniels

Next

Neil Tennant

See all episodes from Desert Island Discs

Music Played

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Walter Brennan

      Old Rivers

      Artist: The Johnny Mann Singers

      • Old Rivers/Family Reunion.
      • United Artists.

  • Henryk Miko艂aj G贸recki

    Opening movement of Symphony of Sorrowful Songs

    Soloist: Susan Gritton Orchestra: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor: Yuri Simonov

    • Gorecki: Symphony No 3.
    • Tring International.

  • Ella Fitzgerald

    Cow-Cow Boogie (with the Ink Spots)

    • The Best of Ella Fitzgerald Vol 11.
    • MCA records.

  • Alexander Borodin

    In the Steppes of Central Asia

    Orchestra: The Kirov Orchestra

    • Rimsky Korsakov: Sheherazade.
    • Philips.

  • Jacques Offenbach

    Quand j'茅tais roi de B茅otie (from Orpheus in the Underworld)

    Orchestra: Sadlers Wells Theatre -1960

    • Orpheus in the Underworld.
    • EMI.

  • The Choir and Tambouritza Ensemble of Radio Osijek

    Oj Lolo Moja or Oh My Darling

    • Songs and Dances of Yugoslavia.
    • Concert Hall Records.

  • Tom Lehrer

    So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III)

    • That was the Year that Was.
    • Reprise.

  • Gustav Holst

    Mars (The Bringer of War) From The Planets 鈥� Suite, op.32

    Orchestra: The London Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor: Sir Adrian Boult

    • Holst: the Planets.
    • PRT.

  • Book Choice

    • Biography of John Osborne - John Halpern

  • Luxury Choice

    • A banjo

Credits

Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Brian Aldiss

Broadcasts

  • Sun 28 Jan 2007 11:15
    麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 4
  • Fri 2 Feb 2007 09:00
    麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 4

Featured in...

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast