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Angus Wilson

Born

in Bexhill, Sussex, England, The United Kingdom

August 11, 1913

Died

May 31, 1992

Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Wilson

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Short Stories

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Sir Angus Frank Johnstone Wilson, KBE (11 August 1913 – 31 May 1991) was an English novelist and short story writer. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot and later received a knighthood for his services to literature.

Wilson was born in Bexhill, Sussex, England, to an English father and South African mother. He was educated at Westminster School and Merton College, Oxford, and in 1937 became a librarian in the British Museum's Department of Printed Books, working on the new General Catalogue. During World War II, he worked in the Naval section Hut 8 at the code-breaking establishment, Bletchley Park, translating Italian Naval codes.

The work situation was stressful and led to a nervous break Sir Angus Frank Johnstone Wilson, KBE (11 August 1913 – 31 May 1991) was an English novelist and short story writer. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot and later received a knighthood for his services to literature.

Wilson was born in Bexhill, Sussex, England, to an English father and South African mother. He was educated at Westminster School and Merton College, Oxford, and in 1937 became a librarian in the British Museum's Department of Printed Books, working on the new General Catalogue. During World War II, he worked in the Naval section Hut 8 at the code-breaking establishment, Bletchley Park, translating Italian Naval codes.

The work situation was stressful and led to a nervous breakdown, for which he was treated by Rolf-Werner Kosterlitz. He returned to the Museum after the end of the War, and it was there that he met Tony Garrett (born 1929), who was to be his companion for the rest of his life.

Wilson's first publication was a collection of short stories, The Wrong Set (1949), followed quickly by the daring novel Hemlock and After, which was a great success, prompting invitations to lecture in Europe.

He worked as a reviewer, and in 1955 he resigned from the British Museum to write full-time (although his financial situation did not justify doing so) and moved to Suffolk.

From 1957 he gave lectures further afield, in Japan, Switzerland, Australia, and the USA. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1968, and received many literary honours in succeeding years. He was knighted in 1980, and was President of the Royal Society of Literature from 1983 to 1988. His remaining years were affected by ill health, and he died of a stroke at a nursing home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on 31 May 1991, aged 77.

His writing, which has a strongly satirical vein, expresses his concern with preserving a liberal humanistic outlook in the face of fashionable doctrinaire temptations. Several of his works were adapted for television. He was Professor of English Literature at the University of East Anglia from 1966 to 1978, and jointly helped to establish their creative writing course at masters level in 1970, which was then a groundbreaking initiative in the United Kingdom. ...more

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Angus Wilson’s books

Average rating: 4.25 · 61,095 ratings · 2,089 reviews · 92 distinct works • Similar authors

	Anglo-Saxon Attitudes 3.67 avg rating — 650 ratings — published 1956 — 39 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hemlock and After 3.57 avg rating — 155 ratings — published 1952 — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Old Men at the Zoo 3.38 avg rating — 133 ratings — published 1961 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot 3.66 avg rating — 105 ratings — published 1958 — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Late Call 3.54 avg rating — 89 ratings — published 1956 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	No Laughing Matter 3.43 avg rating — 79 ratings — published 1967 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wrong Set and other stories 3.58 avg rating — 60 ratings — published 1949 — 32 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Crackler and Other Stories (Partners in Crime, Vol. 2) by Angus Wilson, James Warwick (Narrator) 4.02 avg rating — 46 ratings — published 1929 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Such Darling Dodos and Other Stories 3.33 avg rating — 48 ratings — published 1950 — 30 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Seven Deadly Sins: Common Reader Edition by Angus Wilson (Editor), Cyril Connolly, Christopher Hugh Sykes 3.39 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 1962 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Angus Wilson (?)

“ 'April, April, laugh thy girlish laughter, and the moment after, Weep thy girlish tears, April.' ”
― Angus Wilson, No Laughing Matter

tags: april

14 likes

“You have a perfect right to consign us all to hell, rector, but you must allow us the choice of how we get there.

Raspberry Jam”
― Angus Wilson, The Pan Book of Horror Stories

tags: damnation, free-will, hell, judgemental, religion

12 likes

“Life isn't just to be found, you have to work for it.”
― Angus Wilson, No Laughing Matter

tags: life

3 likes

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Angus Wilson’s Followers (49)

Angus Wilson

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