This review follows on from last year's (J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 1997, 12, 327R) and describes the developments in atomic absorption and fluorescence spectrometry since that time. Included in this review are fundamental processes and instrumentation in the areas of atomic absorption and atomic fluorescence spectrometry, together with advances in related techniques such as atomic magneto-optical rotation spectrometry and laser enhanced ionization. The review of atomic emission spectrometry may be found in J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 1998, 13, 107R. Following the successful introduction of tabulated information last year this feature has been retained in this year's review. The sub-headings have been modified to reflect the material used in this year's review although the general format is the same as in previous years.