# Is "Inside Story" by Martin Amis a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Inside Story by Martin Amis (Jonathan Cape, 2020) is identified by: Autobiographical novel, octavo, in black cloth boards lettered in silver on the spine, with blue endpapers. UK Jonathan Cape (24 September 2020) is the true first; the US Knopf edition followed in 2020.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Autobiographical novel, octavo, in black cloth boards lettered in silver on the spine, with blue endpapers
- First edition, first impression has the full descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and the photographic dust jacket bearing the printed net price and ISBN 978-1-78733-275-1; the priced jacket is a key point and copies are typically unclipped
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Martin Amis |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Year | 2020 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Autobiographical novel, octavo, in black cloth boards lettered in silver on the spine, with blue endpapers |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Autobiographical novel, octavo, in black cloth boards lettered in silver on the spine, with blue endpapers. First edition, first impression has the full descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and the photographic dust jacket bearing the printed net price and ISBN 978-1-78733-275-1; the priced jacket is a key point and copies are typically unclipped.

## Is this the true first?
UK Jonathan Cape (24 September 2020) is the true first; the US Knopf edition followed in 2020.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later impressions remove the lower digits of the number line or state the impression on the copyright page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Inside Story* by Martin Amis a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/inside-story
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.