His enormous talent was revealed with the publication of his first collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites. The two novels which followed, The Cement Garden, and Comfort of Strangers were both adapted for the screen, as were Enduring Love. Presently a screen adaptation of Atonement is in preparation. He has written an original screenplay (The Good Son) and has personally adapted one of his own novels (“The Innocent”, directed by John Schlesinger). His relationship with the cinema is both intimate and intense; nevertheless, beginning with his masterpiece Amsterdam there has not been a novel, a short story or a screenplay in which he has not exalted the use of the word and of language.