Anthony Burgess, Stanley Kubrick and A Clockwork Orange

“Being familiar with the vast majority of the other collections already in print, I can safely say that this collection will become the leading one on its subject. It works both as a Kubrick collection and as a wider study of Kubrick, Burgess, and the film project that shares their names, A Clockwork Orange. The attention to the Kubrick and the Burgess archives in the majority of essays helps the editors compile a truly original and fresh contribution.”

--Graham Allen, University College Cork, Ireland

This book brings together a diverse range of contemporary scholarship around both Anthony Burgess’s novel (1962) and Stanley Kubrick’s film, A Clockwork Orange (US 1971; UK 1972). This is the first book to deal with both together offering a range of groundbreaking perspectives that draw on the most up to date, contemporary archival and critical research carried out at both the Stanley Kubrick Archive, held at University of the Arts London, and the archiveof the International Anthony Burgess Foundation. This landmark book marks both the 50th anniversary of Kubrick’s film and the 60th anniversary of Burgess’s novel by considering the historical, textual and philosophical connections between the two. The chapters are written by a diverse range of contributors covering such subjects as the Burgess/Kubrick relationship; Burgess’s recently discovered ‘sequel’ The Clockwork Condition; the cold war context of both texts; the history of the script; the politics of authorship; and the legacy of both—including their influence on the songwriting and personas of David Bowie!

Matthew Melia is a senior lecturer in film, media and English literature at Kingston University, UK. He is co-editor of The Jaws Book: New Perspectives on the Classic Summer Blockbuster (2020) and a special edition of Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television:  ‘50 Years of A Clockwork Orange’ (2022).

Georgina Orgill is the Stanley Kubrick Archivist at University of the Arts London, UK, where she is responsible for managing the Stanley Kubrick Archive. She is a qualified archivist with an MA in Archives and Records Management.