Getting Carter: Ted Lewis and the Birth of Brit Noir

The story of Ted Lewis carries historical and cultural resonances for our own troubled times.

Ted Lewis is one of the most important writers you’ve never heard of. Born in Manchester in 1940, he grew up

in the tough environs of post-war Humberside, attending Hull College of Arts and Crafts before heading for

London. His life described a cycle of obscurity to glamour and back to obscurity, followed by death at only 42.

He sampled the bright temptations of sixties London while working in advertising, TV and films and he

encountered excitement and danger in Soho drinking dens, rubbing shoulders with the ‘East End boys’ in

gangland haunts. He wrote for Z Cars and had some nine books published. Alas, unable to repeat the

commercial success of Get Carter, Lewis’s life fell apart, his marriage ended and he returned to Humberside

and an all too early demise.

Getting Carter is a meticulously researched and riveting account of the career of a doomed genius. Long-time

admirer Nick Triplow has fashioned a thorough, sympathetic and unsparing narrative. Required reading for

noirists, this book will enthral and move anyone who finds irresistible the old cocktail of rags to riches to rags.