Where to start with: Paul Bailey

"Paul Bailey, who died last October aged 87, was best known as a novelist of comic brilliance, wide-ranging empathy even for the worst of his characters and a cleverness that was never clinical. His fiction was frequently occupied with the impact of memories on our lives, and usually heavily driven by sharp, syncopated dialogue. But he was also a memoirist, poet and more besides so here's a guide to the legacy of books he left behind."

"Bailey was a social creature, a great talker and lover of trivial chit-chat, as one of his characters puts it. Bailey and his friend Beryl Bainbridge used to watch Coronation Street and then compare notes over the phone. This fondness for a gossipy conversation is brought out in his novels Trespasses (1970) and Peter Smart's Confessions (1977). Both feature a man surrounded by funny, maddening, over-the-top characters, who are usually so closely related to him that he can't escape the gravitational pull of their nonsense. Who wants to be normal anyway? asks Ralph's mother in Trespasses when he comes out to her as gay. Like spending an evening with your wittiest, and sometimes cheekiest, friend. The ones to make you laugh and cry at the same time"

"Bailey wrote brilliantly about old age, at both ends of his career. His debut novel At the Jerusalem (1967) follows the experiences of Faith Gadny as she tries to settle into life in an old people's home, where the other residents provide the warmth lacking from the staff, whose idea of taking an interest in the residents is to ask, Why aren't you ladies watching the television? In Bailey's penultimate novel Chapman's Odyssey (2011), an elderly man in hospital slips between tussling with the doctors (I only drink superior wines, he assures them when they rebuke him for his liver test results) and being bombarded by memories of his mother, his lovers and classic literary characters, from Dickens's Pip to Austen's Emma. Both books are full of funny exchanges but marked by the shadow of the inev"

Paul Bailey earned recognition for comic brilliance, broad empathy even toward flawed characters, and a humane cleverness that avoided clinical tone. His fiction frequently explored how memories shape lives and relied on sharp, syncopated dialogue. Bailey also produced memoirs and poetry. He enjoyed social life and light-hearted conversation, sharing television habits with Beryl Bainbridge. Novels such as Trespasses and Peter Smart's Confessions feature protagonists surrounded by exaggerated yet intimately related characters. Bailey examined old age at both career ends, notably in At the Jerusalem and Chapman's Odyssey, blending humour with poignant recollection.

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