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Mark Amory, the literary critic for the Spectator magazine for nearly 30 years, has retired.
Writing in this week's edition of the magazine, his last, Amory said he couldn't recall exactly when he began in his role, with the date put in the article at "approximately 1985".
In his piece he said: "I have always hated people who say that it has been a privilege to be allowed do their job and am not keen on those who remember how much they used to laugh, but it has been and we did. I wouldn’t have stayed so long if I didn’t like it, would I?"
He describes an early experience at the magazine when he went to the then offices in Doughty Street, and "could find no one sober in the building. How did it manage to come out so promptly each week?" He also recalls regular lunches with Kingsley Amis, a period editing alongside the editor's secretary with advice from her husband, and Roy Jenkins' encounter with croquet.
Amory's final books issue contains contributions from former Spectator literary editors, including Karl Miller, Hilary Spurling, A N Wilson and Ferdinand Mount.
A spokesperson at the Spectator told The Bookseller a replacement would "probably" be appointed.