Diana Athill was born in 1917. She helped Andr¿ Deutsch establish the publishing company that bore his name and worked as an editor for Deutsch for four decades. Athill's distinguished career as an editor is the subject of her acclaimed memoir Stet, which is also published by Granta Books, as are several further volumes of memoirs, Instead of a Letter, After a Funeral, Yesterday Morning, Make Believe, Somewhere Towards the End, and Alive, Alive Oh!, the travelogue A Florence Diary, a novel, Don't Look at Me Like That, and a collection of letters, Instead of a Book. In January 2009, she won the Costa Biography Award for Somewhere Towards the End, and was presented with an OBE. She lives in London.

Diana Athill, born in 1917, made her reputation as a writer with the candour of her memoirs; through her commitment, in her words, 'to understand, to be aware, to touch the truth'. In a celebration of her life and writing, Life Class brings together four of her best-loved memoirs in one volume, spanning her very English childhood, her life and loves during the Second World War, her publishing career at Andr, Deutsch, and her reflections on old age. Introduced by Ian Jack, Diana Athill's selected memoirs are a remarkable testament to an unusual and fully lived life.