This Sporting Life cover art

This Sporting Life

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

This Sporting Life

By: David Storey
Narrated by: Stephen McGann
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £6.99

Buy Now for £6.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

In post war Britiain a new writing style emerged from the bleak times. It was commonly known as "kitchen sink drama". That sounds a little disrespectful now, perhaps, but these stories brought realism and raw emotion to their readers.

David Storey's This Sporting Life, set in the industrial north, brilliantly conveys 21-year-old steelworker Arthur Machin's love of his rugby league, his success on the field, and his feelings towards his widowed landlady, as well as his bouts of doubt and anxiety.

Stephen McGann perfectly captures the mood and the character in his reading.

©2008 Copyright Group (P)2008 Horse's Mouth
Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction Fiction

Listeners also enjoyed...

Billy Liar cover art
The Damned Utd cover art
After the Storm cover art
A Kind of Loving cover art
Trust Nobody cover art
Night Music cover art
An Air That Kills cover art
The Girls from the Local cover art
How to Be Right cover art
Cal cover art
Adam's Empire cover art
Walking On Glass cover art
The Doorstep Child cover art
Lights Out Liverpool cover art
Antique Dust cover art
All stars
Most relevant
I read the book years ago and love the story, Stephen McGann's performance more than does it justice, my warning to any nocturnal listeners such as me is that it is broken up by pieces of strident jazz modern involving the trumpet so beware!!!

Great story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.