British writer Martin Amis, a second-generation literary lion, dies aged 73

Martin Amis rose to literary celebrity amid the hip 1980s British fiction boom that included fellow novelists Salman Rushdie, Julian Barnes, Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McEwan. Amis' wife Isabel Fonseca told media that the author of searing and insightful works such as 'Money: A Suicide Note,' 'London Fields' and 'Time's Arrow' passed away on May 19 after a bout with esophageal cancer. Photo: AFP

One of the burdens of having a famous father is trying to measure up to him in the same field.

British writer Martin Amis, who has died at the age of 73, not only matched his illustrious father, Kingsley, but for a while rose beyond him.