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Paul Bailey, who died in October aged 87, was acclaimed for a witty genius, intense sympathy including for the worst personalities in his stories, and a sharpness that avoided being sterile. His novels often explored the influence of recollections in shaping lives, fueled by clever, syncopated conversations. In addition to storytelling, he also excelled as an autobiographer, verse writer, and other capacities—here is a guide to the books he left behind.

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The Ones to Keep You Company

The author appeared as an outgoing person, a master conversationalist with a love for lighthearted gossip, in the words of a creation. Alongside pal Beryl Bainbridge often enjoyed the serial drama Coronation Street and discuss it over calls. This fondness for chatty conversations appears within his books Trespasses (published in 1970) as well as the title Peter Smart’s Confessions (released in 1977). Both feature a central male figure encircled by funny, annoying, over-the-top characters, frequently family members whose impact cannot be avoided. “Who wants to be normal anyway?” asks the mother of Ralph within Trespasses when he reveals he is gay. Similar to spending time with your wittiest, boldest friend.

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Books Blending Humor and Sorrow

Paul Bailey authored superbly on old age, at both ends of his writing journey. His first book At the Jerusalem (1967) details the journey of Faith Gadny during her transition to a care facility, in which other inhabitants offer warmth lacking from staff, whose engagement through questions “Why not view the TV, ladies?”. Within his second-last book Chapman’s Odyssey (2011), an elderly hospitalized man moves between arguing with doctors (“I only drink superior wines”, he states after reprimands over liver tests) and being flooded by memories involving his mum, partners, classic characters like Dickens’s Pip to Austen’s Emma. Both books are filled with funny exchanges however tinged with impending endings. In his stories, grins are unreliable. In At the Jerusalem, “the matron beamed, then stopped suddenly”; Faith Gadny chuckles anxiously upon challenge to her conduct. In that novel, Harry warns that “my laughter is not genuine”. The audience’s grins, though, are real.

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For the Reality Behind the Stories

Besides novels, The author excelled as a gifted memoirist, publishing two autobiographies. An Immaculate Mistake (1990) is a masterwork of reminiscence, its title derived from his mother’s words labeling him an “accident” and questioning his presence. (“She was old now, and letting go of her secrets,” he notes. “This secret, she realized, would intrigue me.”) Within these pages appear the roots of misguided, loving, frustrating parents throughout his books. It also paints a moving picture of a boy discovering his sexuality in the 1940s–50s, when same-sex acts were criminal, and his kin viewed it as suspicious for a boy to buy his mother flowers; and of a hopeful performer (The writer was on stage preceding his literary career) who could recite Hamlet as a teen. His follow-up autobiography A Dog’s Life (2004) concentrates on existence alongside his mixed-breed dog Circe, his former partner David, his affection for Romania—that influenced future works including Kitty and Virgil, Uncle Rudolf, as well as The Prince’s Boy—and heaps of rumors, including a tale involving author Iris Murdoch calling an audience member a “foolish person”.

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If You’re Pressed for Time

Paul Bailey’s books tend to be short—the impactful Old Soldiers (published in 1980) is barely 100 pages—yet for an even briefer option, try his poetry from his later career. The two collections the poetry collection Inheritance (2019) and the title Joie de Vivre (released in 2022) showcase Bailey’s wit, empathy, precision in brief format. These poems contain mortality and existence. Two affectionate topics reappear: about his parent (“I feel nearer to you now—/ I must confess—/ than when you lived”) and for his civil partner Jeremy Trevathan. Within the poem Amazement, he depicts the happiness from enjoying “foolish television” side by side, concluding with: “It’s amazing, somehow, to eat cheese and sip wine while the world darkens.”

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If You Only Read One

It is widely accepted that Bailey’s most ambitious novel is Gabriel’s Lament, nominated for the Booker in 1986. (He also judged the prize in 1982, a task he hated.) This was the book Bailey felt proudest of, although “it exhausted him completely”. It relates Gabriel Harvey’s story, with a missing mother and whose father turns into an insufferable elitist upon receiving money, and the events may link. It acts as a representation of London in the 1900s, a tale of emotional unraveling, and both comic and tragic as anything Bailey wrote. To continue, it led to a subsequent book, Sugar Cane (1993), which Bailey researched by attending brothels to observe.