KEITH WATERHOUSE
Author biography:
Keith Waterhouse was born in 1929 in Leeds. He left school at 14 and worked as a cobbler’s assistant and then an undertaker’s clerk before getting a job in 1950 as a junior reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post. Waterhouse would remain active in journalism for the rest of his life, but also began a second career, writing fiction in his spare time. His first novel, There is a Happy Land, was published in 1957 and drew on his childhood growing up in poverty on a council estate. His second novel, Billy Liar (1959), was a major success, winning critical acclaim and becoming a bestseller; it is now considered a modern classic. With his friend Willis Hall, Waterhouse adapted Billy Liar for the stage and later wrote the screenplay for a 1963 film adaptation, which many believe is one of the best British films ever made. The novel also inspired a musical, a television series, and a sequel, Billy Liar on the Moon (1975).
Waterhouse continued to collaborate with Willis Hall over the next twenty-five years, writing numerous plays and television scripts, and also wrote plays on his own, includingJeffrey Bernard is Unwell, a major success when it opened in 1989 with Peter O’Toole in the starring role.
Waterhouse’s prolific output includes numerous well-received comic novels, including Jubb (1963), Office Life (1978) and Bimbo (1990), as well as two volumes of memoirs, City Lights (1994) and Streets Ahead (1995). He was also very well known for his writings on English language and usage and for his columns in the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail. He was appointed CBE in 1991 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He died in 2009.
Keith Waterhouse was born in 1929 in Leeds. He left school at 14 and worked as a cobbler’s assistant and then an undertaker’s clerk before getting a job in 1950 as a junior reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post. Waterhouse would remain active in journalism for the rest of his life, but also began a second career, writing fiction in his spare time. His first novel, There is a Happy Land, was published in 1957 and drew on his childhood growing up in poverty on a council estate. His second novel, Billy Liar (1959), was a major success, winning critical acclaim and becoming a bestseller; it is now considered a modern classic. With his friend Willis Hall, Waterhouse adapted Billy Liar for the stage and later wrote the screenplay for a 1963 film adaptation, which many believe is one of the best British films ever made. The novel also inspired a musical, a television series, and a sequel, Billy Liar on the Moon (1975).
Waterhouse continued to collaborate with Willis Hall over the next twenty-five years, writing numerous plays and television scripts, and also wrote plays on his own, includingJeffrey Bernard is Unwell, a major success when it opened in 1989 with Peter O’Toole in the starring role.
Waterhouse’s prolific output includes numerous well-received comic novels, including Jubb (1963), Office Life (1978) and Bimbo (1990), as well as two volumes of memoirs, City Lights (1994) and Streets Ahead (1995). He was also very well known for his writings on English language and usage and for his columns in the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail. He was appointed CBE in 1991 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He died in 2009.
TITLES BY THIS AUTHOR
|
|
|