Diana Athill OBE (born December 21, 1917) is a British literary editor, novelist and memoirist who worked with some of the most important writers of the 20th century.
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Athill graduated from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in 1939[1] and worked for the BBC throughout the Second World War. After it she helped André Deutsch establish his publishing company and worked closely with many of his authors, including Philip Roth, Norman Mailer, John Updike, Mordecai Richler, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Rhys, Gitta Sereny, Brian Moore, V. S. Naipaul, Charles Gidley Wheeler and David Gurr.
She retired in 1993 at the age of 75, after more than 50 years in publishing. She continues to influence the publishing world through her revealing memoirs about her editorial career. She is best known for her books of memoirs (these were not written in chronological order, Yesterday Morning being the account of her childhood) and has also translated various works from French.
She appeared on Desert Island Discs at the age of 86 and selected a recording of Haydn's Creation as the most valued of the eight records and Thackeray's Vanity Fair as the book.[2]
Athill was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.[3]
In 2009, she won the Costa Book Award, for her memoir Somewhere Towards The End, a book about old age. In June 2010, she was the subject of a BBC documentary, "Growing Old Disgracefully", part of the Imagine series.[4]
She lives in a care home.