Martin Amis is one of Britain's best-known novelists but recently he has been more in the news for his views on Islam and Islamism than his fiction.

Amis was profoundly shaken by the events of September 11th 2001 and he felt compelled to engage with contemporary politics. In the last few years he has written several essays on Islamism and argues that all religious belief is without reason or dignity.

He talks to Carrie Gracie about the war on terror and tackles the issue of whether this is an ideological war.

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First broadcast 8th February 2008