Books of the Noughties: Miracles of Life

This week 4th estate editor Mark Richards pays tribute to the amazing JG Ballard, who sadly passed away last year, and talks about Miracles of Life, his Book of the Noughties.

One of the great pleasures of being in publishing is working with authors you have long admired, and previously known only as a reader and fan. In my first year at Fourth Estate I worked on J.G. Ballard’s autobiography, Miracles of Life. A concise but capacious work, fascinating about both the Shanghai of his childhood and the Britain of his adult years whether or not you are interested in Ballard the man, Miracles of Life was the last provocation of a provocateur – a gentle, human and very moving book from a writer best known for his searing and prophetic visions of our increasingly technologised future. 

It was, sadly, his final book, and he died after a long illness in April last year. I feel deeply lucky to have met him and worked with him.      

Read more about J.G. Ballard:

• Read about the mini-site we created to market Ballard’s Kingdom Come
• October 2007: Mark Johnson on the divisive nature of J G Ballard’s writing, and on whether Ballard was one our our “greatest living novelists”