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The novelist Paul Bailey, whose life ended last autumn at 87, was celebrated for a humorous talent, deep empathy even for his most flawed characters, and a cleverness that never felt cold. His literary works repeatedly investigated the power of memory within personal journeys, fueled by witty, staccato exchanges. In addition to storytelling, he worked as a poet, memoir writer, and additional roles—here is a guide to the books he left behind.

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Books for Companionship

Paul Bailey proved an outgoing person, an excellent talker fond of casual small talk, according to a fictional persona. Alongside pal fellow writer Beryl Bainbridge used to view Coronation Street and analyze it telephonically. This fondness for chatty conversations appears within his novels the book Trespasses (1970) as well as Peter Smart’s Confessions (1977). Both feature a main male protagonist surrounded by comic, maddening, theatrical individuals, often close relatives whose influence is inescapable. “Who wants to be normal anyway?” queries Ralph’s mother in Trespasses after he discloses his homosexuality. Comparable to hanging out with your wittiest, boldest friend.

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The Ones to Make You Laugh and Cry

The novelist penned superbly on old age, throughout his literary path. His debut novel At the Jerusalem (1967) details the journey of Faith Gadny as she adjusts to an old people’s residence, where fellow residents provide kindness absent in employees, whose concern through questions “Why not view the TV, ladies?”. In the novel before his final Chapman’s Odyssey (released in 2011), an aged patient alternates between clashing with physicians (“My wine selection is exclusive”, he states after reprimands over liver tests) and being flooded by memories from his parent, romances, fictional icons including Pip by Dickens and Emma by Austen. Both books are filled with comic interactions but marked by the inevitable conclusion. In his stories, laughter is suspect. In At the Jerusalem, “the matron grinned, then ended it abruptly”; Mrs Gadny laughs nervously upon challenge to her conduct. Within Chapman’s Odyssey, Harry warns that “my smiles aren’t what they seem”. The audience’s grins, though, are real.

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If You Want the Facts Behind the Fiction

Besides novels, The author excelled as a skilled autobiographer, publishing two autobiographies. An Immaculate Mistake (published in 1990) stands as a masterpiece of recollection, its title derived from his mum’s statement calling him “our error” and saying he shouldn’t exist. (“Elderly, she disclosed hidden truths,” he adds. “She understood this would captivate me.”) Here we see the origins of flawed, caring, annoying mothers and fathers within his fiction. It also paints an evocative portrait of a gay youth in the 1940s–50s, during a time of anti-gay laws, and his kin viewed it as suspicious for a boy to buy his mother flowers; and of a would-be thespian (Paul Bailey performed before writing) who memorized Hamlet at 15. His second memoir the book A Dog’s Life (published in 2004) centers on days with his pet Circe, his ex-partner David, his love for Romania—which inspired subsequent books such as the novel Kitty and Virgil, Uncle Rudolf, plus The Prince’s Boy—and loads of chatter, with a story regarding Iris Murdoch calling an audience member an “idiot”.

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If You’re Pressed for Time

Paul Bailey’s books tend to be short—the notable Old Soldiers (1980) is just over 100 pages—but for something shorter, explore his poems from his later career. The pair of volumes the poetry collection Inheritance (from 2019) and also Joie de Vivre (released in 2022) display his cleverness, sympathy, exactness in small packages. These writings are rich with mortality and existence. Two affectionate topics reappear: for his mother (“I feel nearer to you now—/ I must confess—/ than when you lived”) and for his partner Jeremy Trevathan. Within the poem Amazement, he depicts the joy of enjoying “foolish television” side by side, finishing with: “It’s awesome, in its way, this act of eating cheese / and drinking wine, as the world keeps darkening.”

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If You Only Read One

There is little debate that Paul Bailey’s boldest work was Gabriel’s Lament, shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1986. (He was a Booker judge in 1982, a task he hated.) This work Bailey felt proudest of, although “it consumed all his energy”. It relates the narrative of Gabriel Harvey, whose mum disappears while his dad transforms into an insufferable elitist after inheriting wealth, and the two might be related. It’s a depiction of the city in that era, a tale of emotional unraveling, and both comic and tragic similar to his entire output. Additionally, it prompted a subsequent book, Sugar Cane (1993), that he investigated by going to such places to watch.