If I were to say that certain op-ed writers ought to be taken out and thrashed, after which they should be locked away for several years and forced to sew their own hankies, with the legend 'I should not be taken seriously' along one edge, would I be proposing this course of action? Well, no. Most people would see it for what it was. Thus Martin Amis, talking to Camilla Long:
He is disgusted at the problem of the ageing population: "How is society going to support this silver tsunami? There'll be a population of demented very old people, like an invasion of terrible immigrants, stinking out the restaurants and cafes and shops. I can imagine a sort of civil war between the old and the young in 10 or 15 years' time."
Amis's solution is typically extreme: mass euthanasia. "There should be a booth on every corner where you could get a Martini and a medal," he says.
He might as well have stuck in a reference to Soylent Green. Amis is duly reported today as 'calling for' euthanasia booths. Someone from the Care Not Killing Alliance is extremely disappointed that people are 'advocating' death booths. Amis explains that his comments were meant to be 'satirical'. No, surely not. Throw avocados at both my cousins.