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Paul Bailey, who died in October aged 87, was celebrated for his witty genius, profound compassion including for the worst personalities in his stories, and a cleverness that never felt cold. His fiction repeatedly investigated the influence of recollections within personal journeys, propelled by sharp, rhythmic dialogue. In addition to storytelling, he was also a poet, memoir writer, and additional roles—here is a guide to the books he left behind.

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Books for Companionship

Bailey was a social being, a master conversationalist fond of lighthearted gossip, according to a fictional persona. Together with companion Beryl Bainbridge used to view the serial drama Coronation Street and discuss it over calls. This fondness for chatty conversations is evident in his novels Trespasses (1970) as well as Peter Smart’s Confessions (1977). Each includes a main male protagonist besieged by funny, annoying, over-the-top characters, often close relatives whose gravitational pull is unavoidable. “Why would anyone desire normality?” Ralph’s mum questions within Trespasses after he discloses his homosexuality. Similar to spending time with your smartest, cheekiest pal.

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Books Blending Humor and Sorrow

The novelist penned brilliantly about aging, at both ends of his writing journey. His debut novel At the Jerusalem (from 1967) follows Faith Gadny’s experiences during her transition to an old people’s residence, where fellow residents provide kindness missing from caregivers, whose engagement by asking “Aren’t you watching television?”. In his penultimate novel Chapman’s Odyssey (2011), an aged patient moves between arguing with doctors (“My wine selection is exclusive”, he insists after reprimands over liver tests) and confronting past remembrances from his parent, romances, fictional icons such as Pip from Dickens or Emma from Austen. Each volume are filled with funny exchanges but marked by approaching finality. In Bailey’s fiction, grins are unreliable. In At the Jerusalem, “the matron smiled, shut the smile off quickly”; Mrs Gadny laughs nervously if her actions are questioned. Within Chapman’s Odyssey, Harry warns that “my laughter is not genuine”. Readers’ smiles, however, are authentic.

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For the Reality Behind the Stories

Besides novels, Bailey was a gifted memoirist, issuing two personal accounts. An Immaculate Mistake (from 1990) is a masterwork of recollection, its title derived from his mum’s statement that “You were our mistake. You ought not to be here, by rights.”. (“She was old now, and letting go of her secrets,” he comments. “This secret, she realized, would intrigue me.”) Here we see the sources of misguided, loving, frustrating parents within his fiction. Additionally, it depicts an evocative portrait of a boy discovering his sexuality in that era, when homosexuality was illegal, and his relatives considered it strange if a male child gifted blooms to his parent; and of a hopeful performer (Paul Bailey performed preceding his literary career) who could recite Hamlet as a teen. His second memoir the book A Dog’s Life (from 2004) centers on existence alongside his mixed-breed dog Circe, his former partner David, his fondness for Romania—that influenced future works including the novel Kitty and Virgil, the title Uncle Rudolf, plus The Prince’s Boy—and heaps of rumors, including a tale involving author 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 under 100 pages—yet for an even briefer option, try his poetry in his final phase. The two collections Inheritance (published in 2019) and Joie de Vivre (released in 2022) exhibit his cleverness, sympathy, exactness in small packages. These verses contain mortality and existence. Two love themes recur: for his mother (“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 happiness from viewing “a silly TV show” as a couple, finishing with: “It’s remarkable, this simple act of consuming cheese and wine as darkness falls.”

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For a Single Must-Read

There is little debate that Paul Bailey’s boldest work was Gabriel’s Lament, nominated for the Booker in 1986. (He also judged the prize in 1982, an experience he despised.) This work Paul Bailey valued most, even though “it drained me. It took everything out of me”. It follows the tale of Gabriel Harvey, whose mother vanishes while his dad transforms into a intolerable pretentious person after inheriting wealth, and the two might be related. It serves as a portrait of London in the 1900s, a story of mental breakdown, and equally humorous and sorrowful as anything Bailey wrote. Additionally, it prompted a follow-up, Sugar Cane (from 1993), which Bailey researched by attending brothels to observe.