Jonathan Miller lives with his wife, Rachel, in an elegant Victorian house near Regent 's Park in North London. Their three children, one daughter and two sons, have grown up and gone, and Rachel, a general-practitioner doctor, now works in community medicine. The house, where the Millers have lived for forty-three years, is in a graceful crescent that has long been associated with "the life of the mind," particularly writers and artists. Charles Dickens lived there with his mistress, who remained in the house until her death, and more recently V. S. Pritchett was round the corner until the end of his life. His current neighbors in the crescent are playwrights Alan Bennett and Michael Frayn, writers Claire Tomalin and Julia O 'Faofain, among others.

 The drawing room, where we sat by the fire for the following conversation, is full of floor-to -ceiling bookcases, pictures, and sculptures, objets trouvés and ob jets fabriquésAssyrian basreliefs, African textiles, collages. Many pictur…