🔗 Share this article Uncovering the Written Legacy of Novelist Paul Bailey The novelist Paul Bailey, whose life ended last autumn at 87, was celebrated for his witty genius, intense sympathy including for his most flawed characters, and a cleverness that never felt cold. His novels frequently delved into the power of memory on human existence, fueled by witty, staccato exchanges. Beyond novels, he also excelled as an autobiographer, verse writer, and other capacities—here is a guide to the volumes he authored. Books for Companionship The author appeared as a social being, an excellent talker fond of “trivial chit-chat”, in the words of a creation. Alongside pal Beryl Bainbridge would watch the serial drama Coronation Street and discuss it over calls. This pleasure in gossipy exchanges is evident in his novels the novel Trespasses (published in 1970) and Peter Smart’s Confessions (released in 1977). Both feature a central male figure surrounded by funny, annoying, over-the-top characters, often close relatives whose gravitational pull is unavoidable. “Who wants to be normal anyway?” asks the mother of Ralph within Trespasses upon his coming out. Like an evening with your smartest, cheekiest pal. Books Blending Humor and Sorrow Bailey wrote superbly on old age, throughout his literary path. His first book At the Jerusalem (1967) details Faith Gadny’s experiences while she adapts to a nursing home, where other occupants offer warmth lacking from staff, whose engagement via queries “Why not view the TV, ladies?”. Within his second-last book the title Chapman’s Odyssey (released in 2011), an elderly hospitalized man moves between arguing with doctors (“I only drink superior wines”, he states following criticism of his liver) and being flooded by memories involving his mum, partners, classic characters like Dickens’s Pip to Austen’s Emma. The two works are filled with comic interactions but marked by approaching finality. Throughout his novels, smiles are deceptive. In that book, “the matron smiled, shut the smile off quickly”; Mrs Gadny laughs nervously when confronted about her behavior. In that novel, Harry advises that “my smiles aren’t what they seem”. Readers’ smiles, however, are authentic. If You Want the Facts Behind the Fiction Apart from his stories, Bailey was a skilled autobiographer, issuing two personal accounts. An Immaculate Mistake (1990) serves as a classic of memory, its name coming from his mum’s statement labeling him an “accident” and questioning his presence. (“Elderly, she disclosed hidden truths,” he adds. “She understood this would captivate me.”) This book reveals the sources for confused, affectionate, irritating parental figures in his novels. It likewise portrays a moving picture of a boy discovering his sexuality in that era, during a time of anti-gay laws, and his family found it odd if a male child gifted blooms to his parent; and of a would-be thespian (The writer was on stage prior to authoring) who memorized Hamlet at 15. His second memoir A Dog’s Life (from 2004) focuses on days with his pet Circe, his ex-partner David, his love for Romania—which motivated later novels like Kitty and Virgil, Uncle Rudolf, plus The Prince’s Boy—and plenty of gossip, featuring an anecdote about Iris Murdoch calling an audience member an “idiot”. For Those Short on Time Paul Bailey’s books are generally brief—the notable Old Soldiers (1980) is barely 100 pages—however, for a more condensed choice, try his poetry from later years. The two books the poetry collection Inheritance (from 2019) and also Joie de Vivre (2022) display his cleverness, sympathy, exactness in small packages. These writings are rich with mortality and existence. Two love themes recur: about his parent (“Now I’m closer—/ I have to say—/ than in life”) and for his civil partner Jeremy Trevathan. In that piece, he writes of the pleasure in viewing “a silly TV show” as a couple, finishing with: “It’s amazing, somehow, to eat cheese and sip wine while the world darkens.” For a Single Must-Read It is widely accepted that Paul Bailey’s boldest work is the novel Gabriel’s Lament, shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1986. (He was a Booker judge in 1982, an experience he despised.) This work Bailey felt proudest of, despite the fact “it drained me. It took everything out of me”. It follows the tale of Gabriel Harvey, whose mother vanishes and a father who becomes an unbearable snob upon receiving money, with possible connections. It’s a depiction of 20th-century London, an account of psychological collapse, and both comic and tragic as anything Bailey wrote. For more, it inspired a sequel, Sugar Cane (from 1993), which the author studied by attending brothels to observe.