| Code | DS/UK/11155 |
| Name | Amis; John (17 June 1922-1 August 2013); British broadcaster, critic and writer |
| Variations of Name | John Preston Amis |
| Dates | 17 June 1922-1 August 2013 |
| Gender | Male (cisgender) |
| Place of Birth/Origin | Dulwich, London, England (born) |
| Relationships | Cousin of the Kingsley Amis (novelist)
Spouse of Isla Baring OAM (Chairman of the Tait Memorial Trust)
Former spouse of Olive Zorian (violinist, founder of the Zorian String Quartet) |
| Biography | John Preston Amis was a British broadcaster, classical music critic, music administrator, and writer. He was a frequent contributor for The Guardian and to BBC radio and television music programming.
He was into a banking family and began his career working in a bank for five and a half weeks before leaving to earn a living in music. A serious bout of mastoiditis as a child left him deaf in his left ear. Despite this, Amis had a number of roles, including gramophone record salesman, and orchestra manager (at one point turning pages for Dame Myra Hess during the wartime concerts), before becoming a music critic, initially with The Scotsman in 1946. He was for several years manager for Sir Thomas Beecham, and also worked for the London Philharmonic Orchestra. |