Colm Tóibín

So she picked... People are going to order, you know, a glass of wine, a ginger ale, no ice.

And could we have some olives?

You know, and...

I think that happened with Alan Clarke did that.

He was on a plane with Margaret Thatcher and Geoffrey Howe.

And Geoffrey Howe went into the bathroom to change because he was going to some dinner in London when they landed in the plane.

But he changed into a full sort of, you know, monkey suit.

And when he came out, Alan Clarke said, oh, that'll be gin and tonics all round.

Thank you.

I thought that was a great story.

Yes, he said that Michael Heseltine was the sort of man who bought his own furniture.

But I had no idea.

Honestly, I didn't know what that meant.

I thought, oh, he bought his own furniture.

And then I realized, no, it meant that he didn't inherit his furniture.

Well, he used it about Michael Heselty.

I thought it was his, but it could be somebody else's.

The Italian thing is that they never make a mistake.

You know, like if I try and wear shoes with no socks, my ankle, my whole, that part of me down there looks so white and strange.

But if an Italian does it, it looks perfect.