John (Gerard) Braine - Select bibliography

Writer, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. The success of his first book, Room at the Top (1957), enabled him to become a full-time novelist. The theme of aggressive ambition and determination to break through social barriers identified him with the ‘Angry Young Men’ of the 1950s. His novels deal mostly with the north of England and northerners, and include The Vodi (1959), Life at the Top (1962), and One and Last Love (1981). Many of his writings have been adapted for television.

Born in Bradford, Yorkshire, Braine left St. Bede's Grammar School at 16 and worked in a shop, a laboratory and a factory before becoming, after the war, a librarian. Although he wrote twelve works of fiction, Braine is chiefly remembered today for his first novel, Room at the Top (1957), which was also turned into a successful film (1959).

Select bibliography

Fiction

Room at the Top (1957) The Vodi (1959) Life at the Top (1962) The Jealous God (1964) The Crying Game (1968) (Not related to the 1992 film of the same title) Stay With Me Till Morning (1970) The Queen Of A Distant Country (1972) The Pious Agent (1975) Waiting for Sheila (1976) One And Last Love (1981) The Two Of Us (1984) These Golden Days (1985)

Non-fiction

Writing a Novel (1974) J.