[1][2][3] In aggregating reviews from the British press upon the book' publication, The Guardian found it received an average rating of 8 out of 10.

[5] Globally, the work was received generally well, with Complete Review saying on the consensus: "Very positive, with many touched by the book.

Terence Baker, in The Sunday Times, called it a "careful, heartfelt tribute".

Jackie Wullschlager wrote in the Financial Times: "The core here is family, and it is movingly, beautifully, evoked...

The raw materials – neurotic, outrageous genius of a father; gorgeous earth-mother Hilly; sophisticated step-mother Elizabeth Jane Howard; stunning girlfriends dropped along the way like a shattering string of pearls; an unknown daughter emerging at 18 – are unbeatable, and Amis makes of them a loving, perceptive, comic portrait.