The Life Inside

Andy West’s tense and intimate book is an education … The Life Inside deserves the widest possible readership. – Geoff DyerBy turns enriching, sobering and at times, heartrending. A tale centering on our inner critic or executioner and how to stifle its constant sniping. A wonder. * Sir Lenny Henry *An authentic, fascinating and deeply moving story about the different ways people search for freedom. – Terry WaiteWritten with sensitivity and humanity… a remarkable insight into prison life * Amanda Brown, author of The Prison Doctor *West powerfully interweaves an account of teaching philosophy in prison with his own family’s history of imprisonment, creating an intellectually thrilling memoir of freedom and constraint. – Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of a BodyWeaving philosophical questions about free will, forgiveness, guilt and shame, with family history and the realities of incarceration. Beautifully written – honest, painful, absurd and sometimes joyful. – Caitlin Davies, author of Queens of the UnderworldA book that every thinking person should read. – Simon Critchley, author of Continental PhilosophyWritten with compassion and searing honesty. * The Tablet *The Life Inside is an honest, delicate memoir that doubles as an accessible handbook of philosophical ideas. It expands both heart and mind; I’ll never think about prisons - let alone my own freedom and family - the same way again. – Ciaran Thapar, author of Cut ShortIt’s a rare feat for anyone who works in a prison to capture the smell, the flavour and the taste of the fetid air they share with the prisoners in a book … More and more compelling with every turn of the page. – Erwin James, author of RedeemableThese are tender, complicated relationships, and there is candour and wisdom - and no little courage - in how West shows them to us. * The New Humanist *West incorporates philosophical, descriptive, and psychological elements as with a fine Dickensian brush he paints a picture of the gritty details of prison life… profoundly moving. * Philosophy Now *Insightful and sophisticated. * TLS *An astonishing, necessary book … brilliantly dispels damaging myths about those whose lives are lived inside. * Lucia Osborne-Crowley *Immersing, entertaining and wonderfully empathetic. * The Bookseller *Drawn with great tenderness. * Prospect *One of the best books I’ve read this year. Moving, witty and profound, it’s a powerfully humane book about a part of life that’s defined by inhumanity. * Matt Rowland Hill *Poignant, insightful, and full of philosophical substance. * The Philosophers’ Magazine *The Life Inside is extraordinary. * Rob Doyle *

Andy West has written for The Guardian, Aeon, 3:AM Magazine, Huck, The Big Issue, openDemocracy, Lead, The Times Education Supplement and Bloomsbury. The Life Inside is his first book.