🔗 Share this article Discovering the Written Universe of Paul Bailey Esteemed author Paul Bailey, who passed away last year at 87, was celebrated for possessing a witty genius, profound compassion extending to the worst personalities in his stories, and a sharpness that never felt cold. His fiction frequently delved into the role of remembrance on human existence, fueled by clever, syncopated conversations. Beyond novels, he was also an autobiographer, verse writer, and other capacities—this is an overview to the books he left behind. Books for Companionship Bailey was a gregarious individual, a master conversationalist with a love for casual small talk, as one character notes. Alongside pal Beryl Bainbridge would watch the TV show Coronation Street and analyze it telephonically. This fondness for gossipy exchanges shines through in his books Trespasses (published in 1970) along with the title Peter Smart’s Confessions (1977). Each includes a leading man besieged by funny, annoying, over-the-top characters, often close relatives whose impact cannot be avoided. “Why would anyone desire normality?” asks the mother of Ralph in Trespasses after he discloses his homosexuality. Similar to spending time with your wittiest, boldest friend. The Ones to Make You Laugh and Cry Bailey wrote superbly on old age, throughout his literary path. His debut novel At the Jerusalem (from 1967) details the life of Faith Gadny as she adjusts to a nursing home, where other occupants offer warmth absent in employees, whose engagement through questions “Aren’t you watching television?”. Within his second-last book the title Chapman’s Odyssey (from 2011), a senior in hospital alternates between disputing with medics (“I consume only fine wines”, he insists after reprimands over liver tests) and being flooded by memories of his mother, lovers, literary figures such as Pip from Dickens or Emma from Austen. The two works are filled with comic interactions but marked by impending endings. In his stories, laughter is suspect. In At the Jerusalem, “the matron smiled, shut the smile off quickly”; Faith Gadny chuckles anxiously if her actions are questioned. In Chapman’s Odyssey, Harry warns that “my laughter is not genuine”. Your laughter, nonetheless, is sincere. If You Want the Facts Behind the Fiction Apart from his stories, The author excelled as a skilled autobiographer, publishing two autobiographies. the memoir An Immaculate Mistake (published in 1990) serves as a classic of reminiscence, its title derived from his mum’s statement that “You were our mistake. You ought not to be here, by rights.”. (“Elderly, she disclosed hidden truths,” he comments. “This secret, she realized, would intrigue me.”) Here we see the origins of flawed, caring, annoying mothers and fathers throughout his books. Additionally, it depicts an evocative portrait of a homosexual young man in the 1940s–50s, during a time of anti-gay laws, and his family found it odd that a son would purchase flowers for his mum; and of an aspiring actor (Paul Bailey performed before writing) who could recite Hamlet as a teen. His second memoir A Dog’s Life (2004) concentrates on existence alongside his mixed-breed dog Circe, his previous lover David, his affection for Romania—that influenced future works including the novel Kitty and Virgil, Uncle Rudolf, plus the book The Prince’s Boy—and loads of chatter, with a story regarding Iris Murdoch calling an audience member an “idiot”. For Those Short on Time Bailey’s novels are generally brief—the powerful Old Soldiers (from 1980) is under 100 pages—yet for an even briefer option, sample his verse from his later career. The two books the poetry collection Inheritance (2019) and the title Joie de Vivre (from 2022) display Bailey’s wit, empathy, precision in brief format. These verses contain death and life. Two affectionate topics reappear: about his parent (“I’m closer to you now – / I need to tell you – / than I ever was in life”) and for his civil partner Jeremy Trevathan. In that piece, he describes the pleasure in viewing “a silly TV show” as a couple, finishing with: “It’s remarkable, this simple act of consuming cheese and wine as darkness falls.” When Choosing Just One It is widely accepted that Paul Bailey’s boldest work is the novel Gabriel’s Lament, nominated for the Booker in 1986. (He was a Booker judge in 1982, a role he disliked.) This work the author was most proud of, even though “it drained me. It took everything out of me”. It relates the tale of Gabriel Harvey, with a missing mother and a father who becomes an insufferable elitist upon receiving money, with possible connections. It acts as a representation of 20th-century London, a tale of emotional unraveling, and equally humorous and sorrowful similar to his entire output. For more, it inspired a follow-up, Sugar Cane (1993), which Bailey researched by visiting brothels as an observer.