'He did not, in fact, like being called "Chris" – his mother would not, he explained, wish her firstborn to be addressed "as if he were a taxi-driver or pothole-filler" – and found "Hitch", which most friends used, more acceptable.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/16/christopher-hitc...

That obit is a good read, btw.