🔗 Share this article Exploring the Creative Legacy of Novelist Paul Bailey Esteemed author Paul Bailey, whose life ended last autumn at 87, was acclaimed for his witty genius, intense sympathy even for his most flawed characters, and a cleverness that was never clinical. His fiction repeatedly investigated the power of memory on human existence, fueled by witty, staccato exchanges. Apart from fiction, he also excelled as an autobiographer, verse writer, and other capacities—here is a guide to the books he left behind. The Ones to Keep You Company Bailey was a gregarious individual, an excellent talker fond of casual small talk, in the words of a creation. Together with companion Beryl Bainbridge would watch the TV show Coronation Street and discuss it over calls. This fondness for informal dialogues shines through in his novels the book Trespasses (1970) along with Peter Smart’s Confessions (dating to 1977). Each includes a main male protagonist encircled by funny, annoying, over-the-top characters, frequently family members whose gravitational pull is unavoidable. “What’s so great about being normal?” asks the mother of Ralph in Trespasses after he discloses his homosexuality. Like an evening with your most clever, daring companion. The Ones to Make You Laugh and Cry The novelist penned superbly on old age, at both ends of his writing journey. His initial fiction the novel At the Jerusalem (1967) traces the life of Faith Gadny while she adapts to an old people’s residence, where fellow residents supply compassion missing from caregivers, whose engagement through questions “Why aren’t you ladies watching the television?”. In his penultimate novel Chapman’s Odyssey (from 2011), a senior in hospital moves between arguing with doctors (“I consume only fine wines”, he affirms following criticism of his liver) and experiencing a rush of recollections of his mother, lovers, literary figures like Dickens’s Pip to Austen’s Emma. The two works contain comic interactions however tinged with approaching finality. In his stories, laughter is suspect. In At the Jerusalem, “the matron beamed, then stopped suddenly”; The character giggles with unease if her actions are questioned. In that novel, Harry warns that “my smiles aren’t what they seem”. Your laughter, nonetheless, is sincere. To Understand the Truth Beneath the Tales Apart from his stories, Bailey was a talented life writer, releasing two self-written volumes. the memoir An Immaculate Mistake (1990) serves as a classic of reminiscence, the heading taken from his mum’s statement calling him “our error” and saying he shouldn’t exist. (“She was old now, and letting go of her secrets,” he comments. “She understood this would captivate me.”) This book reveals the roots for confused, affectionate, irritating parental figures throughout his books. It also paints a beautiful image of a homosexual young man during the mid-20th century, when homosexuality was illegal, and his relatives considered it strange that a son would purchase flowers for his mum; and of an aspiring actor (The writer was on stage before writing) who learned Hamlet by age fifteen. His follow-up autobiography A Dog’s Life (published in 2004) focuses on existence alongside his mixed-breed dog Circe, his ex-partner David, his love for Romania—that influenced future works including Kitty and Virgil, Uncle Rudolf, as well as the book The Prince’s Boy—and plenty of gossip, with a story regarding Iris Murdoch dubbing a participant a “foolish person”. If You’re Pressed for Time The author’s fiction are generally brief—the powerful Old Soldiers (published in 1980) is just over 100 pages—but for something shorter, try his poetry from his later career. The two collections the poetry collection Inheritance (published in 2019) and Joie de Vivre (from 2022) display his humor, compassion, accuracy in condensed form. These verses contain mortality and existence. Two love themes recur: for his mother (“I feel nearer to you now—/ I must confess—/ than when you lived”) and for his partner Jeremy Trevathan. In Amazement, he describes the joy of enjoying “foolish television” side by side, concluding with: “It’s awesome, in its way, this act of eating cheese / and drinking wine, as the world keeps darkening.” For a Single Must-Read It is widely accepted that the author’s most expansive book was Gabriel’s Lament, nominated for the Booker in 1986. (He was a Booker judge in 1982, an experience he despised.) This novel the author was most proud of, although “it drained me. It took everything out of me”. It tells the narrative of Gabriel Harvey, whose mum disappears while his dad transforms into an insufferable elitist upon receiving money, and the two might be related. It serves as a portrait of the city in that era, an account of psychological collapse, and equally humorous and sorrowful similar to his entire output. For more, it inspired a follow-up, Sugar Cane (1993), which the author studied by visiting brothels as an observer.