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On a chilly February day two old friends meet in the throng outside a crematorium to pay their last respects to Molly Lane. Both Clive Linley and Vernon Halliday had been Molly's lovers in the days before they reached their current eminence, Clive as Britain's most successful modern composer, Vernon as editor of the quality broadsheet, The Judge.Gorgeous, feisty Molly had had other lovers too, notably Julian Garmony, Foreign Secretary, a notorious right-winger tipped to be the next prime minister. In the days that follow Molly's funeral Clive and Vernon will make a pact that will have consequences neither has foreseen. Each will make a disastrous moral decision, their friendship will be tested to its limits and Julian Garmony will be fighting for his political life.

Reviews

"The novel twists and turns unexpectedly...McEwan has a master's control over his instrument" -- John Sutherland Sunday Times "Full of gusto, straightforward, and delivers blows to the gut...shocking" -- A. S. Byatt Literary Review "Amsterdam' is brilliantly engineered and marvellously entertaining" -- David Sexton Evening Standard "A psychologically brilliant study of heartlessness...superbly done...gripping...chilling...finely executed" -- Caroline Moore Sunday Telegraph