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The Life Inside

Now a major BBC drama, 'Waiting for the Out'

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The Life Inside

By: Andy West
Narrated by: Simon Darwen
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About this listen

NOW A MAJOR BBC DRAMA, 'WAITING FOR THE OUT'

An Irish Times and The i Book of the Year
'Tense and intimate . . . an education' – Geoff Dyer
'Authentic, fascinating and deeply moving' – Terry Waite

Andy West teaches philosophy in prisons. Every time he steps behind bars, he also confronts his inherited shame: his father, uncle and brother all spent time inside. While Andy has built a different life for himself, he still fears that their fate will also be his.

Every day he has conversations with prisoners about their lives, discusses their ideas and feelings, and listens as they explore new ways to think about their situation. Together they tackle the big questions: Can someone in prison be more free than someone outside? Would we ever be good if we never felt shame? What makes a person worthy of forgiveness? As he discusses pressing questions of truth, identity and hope with his students, Andy searches for his own form of freedom too.

Moving, sympathetic, wise and frequently funny, The Life Inside is an elegantly written and unforgettable memoir. Through exquisite storytelling and gentle philosophical questioning, it offers a new insight into our stretched justice system, our failing prisons and the complex lives being lived inside.

'Inspiring' – The Observer
'Enriching, sobering and at times heartrending' - Lenny Henry
'A remarkable insight into prison life' – Amanda Brown
'Expands both heart and mind' – Ciaran Thapar
'A fascinating and enlightening journey . . . A legitimate page-turner' – 3:AM Magazine

 Educators Ethics & Morality Philosophy Professionals & Academics Social Sciences Violence in Society Memoir Funny Crime

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Critic reviews

The wisdom plus lived experience on display in this book are by turns enriching, sobering and at times, heartrending. A tale centering on our inner critic or executioner and how to stifle its constant sniping. A wonder.
Andy West powerfully interweaves an account of teaching philosophy in prison with his own family’s history of imprisonment, creating an intellectually thrilling memoir of freedom and constraint. West reminds us that thinking, debating, and learning are not luxuries but crucial for survival, urgent inquiries into who we are. (Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of a Body)
Andy West’s tense and intimate book is an education - a completely unsentimental and, for that reason, a compassionate and moving one. At its heart is an appeal against the life sentence handed down by Larkin in ‘This Be The Verse’. The Life Inside deserves the widest possible readership. (Geoff Dyer)
Andy West bears witness to life inside prison, weaving philosophical questions about free will, forgiveness, guilt and shame, with family history and the realities of incarceration. Beautifully written – honest, painful, absurd and sometimes joyful – The Life Inside reveals how people survive. (Caitlin Davies, author of Queens of the Underworld)
A book that every thinking person should read. (Simon Critchley, author of Continental Philosophy)
An authentic, fascinating and deeply moving story about the different ways people search for freedom. (Terry Waite)
The Life Inside is an honest, delicate memoir that doubles as an accessible handbook of philosophical ideas. It expands both heart and mind; I’ll never think about prisons - let alone my own freedom and family - the same way again. (Ciaran Thapar, author of Cut Short)
An astonishingly necessary book: a thoughtful and clear sighted reflection on what it means to be human in a society obsessed with punishment and incarceration. It is an intricate exploration of the ways in which society shames and punishes us, and the ways in which we then punish ourselves. West’s deeply philosophical reflection on his work as an educator in the prison system brilliantly dispels damaging myths about those whose lives are lived inside and whose lives are consequently flattened by society in so many ways. This book embraces humanity and complexity in a manner that so few descriptions of prisons do. It challenges all of us to think more deeply about empathy, forgiveness, love and shame, and I urge everyone to read it.
All stars
Most relevant
An absolutely brilliant and fascinating book, excellently written and I was kept interested the whole way through.
Definitely would recommend.

Brilliant and Fascinating Book

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I loved the whole approach & style of story telling & reporting what went on. It was dense with examples from which I can learn a lot so need to dip in and hear it again.
Loved it…. A lot, well done

Read it again!

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Excellent writing, reminiscent of Orwell's - that perfect balance of scene setting and story telling that immerses you totally.
As a prison teacher myself, I'm impressed by how well Andy West has managed to depict prison education and the experience of working 'inside'.
This book is as often touching as it is eye opening, and on many occasions I found myself unsure whether I wanted to cry or laugh out loud!
The book explores some of the floors of our justice system from a perspective that is usually hidden from public view. I would argue that one SHOULD read this book so as to become better informed of the actual effect of prisons in Britain.
Read well too, I cannot recommend this enough!

Stop wasting your time and GET THIS BOOK!

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This was an authentic account and an invitation to authenticity (no references to Heidegger but I can forgive that) Bravo

Authenticity

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What a fascinating book to look at how philosophy can apply to people’s lives, and in this case, the teacher who has a father, brother and uncle who have been involved in all sorts of criminal escapades and spent time in jail, is now trying to support other prisoners lives by showing them how philosophy can help prepare you for life – both inside and outside of prison.
- Some of the philosophical conundrums include looking at identity, freedom, shame, desire, luck, happiness, time, madness, trust, salvation, forgetting, truth, looking, laughter, race, change, stories, home, and kindness. The author tells a story and then asks what it means. He tells the story of how Ulysses listened to the Songs of the Sirens who sang a song so beautiful that sailors would kills themselves rather than flee, to continue listening to the sung songs – the prisoners compare it to drugs. That won’t be the first time. He uses the Stoics, Shakespeare, Beckett and philosophers old and new to help prisoners learn more about themselves and the life around them. Is life down to luck or what we make of it, is it all just determined like the throw of a dice or is life more like a game of chess? Using these tools help us to navigate the paths through life that we all will take.
- Populations in prison have doubled over the last few years - this is because we are now putting people in prison for historical crimes. What's interesting about the book as the author shares the lessons of ancient Greek philosophers and many modern ones as well as stories and works from literature using examples to make people think about their prison sentence and if they can at least be free in their minds using works by Viktor Frankl and Primo Levi (both Holocaust survivors).
- The lessons allow the prisoners to discuss the human condition – is life meaningless, absurd, and just a series of random events or does it have a purpose and meaning.
- The book also gives a viewpoint and voice to some of the prisoners who are serving time in prison.
- I also like the idea that Philosophy is a way of helping us to prepare for death without all the spiritual religion.
- One of the inmates explains that people only know what they know and describes being inside to the world we were living in under Covid – it was just like being in prison. An Illuminating and thought-provoking book.

interesting look at philosphy

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