Kinglsey Amis was knighted in 1990, but in one respect he's also the king -- of the art of good storytelling. It's an art that has become rare in contemporary writing. In this volume of short stories, Amis also uses variety to entertain us. We discover why Mr. Barrett worries about his daughter's association with the poet Browning, and we share a bizarre incident with a timid literary agent who becomes a hostage. In another, more eerie story, a parson meets an identical twin he didn't know he had, with unnerving results.