Jim Williams (born 1947) is the name of the British lawyer, commercial consultant and writer, who has also written under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s Richard Hugo (not to be confused with an American author of the same name) and Alexander Mollin. Born and brought up in

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England, Williams graduated with a BA Hons in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1970. He practised law for a number of years before changing to a career of legal and commercial work in the

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

industry. He is married with three children.

Writing career

Williams came to public attention when his first novel, ''The Hitler Diaries'', was published nine months before the famous

Hitler Diaries The Hitler Diaries () were a series of sixty volumes of journals purportedly written by Adolf Hitler, but forged by Konrad Kujau between 1981 and 1983. The diaries were purchased in 1983 for 9.3 million Deutsche Marks (£2.3 million ...

forgery scandal, and he seemed again prophetic when ''Farewell to Russia'', a novel about a nuclear accident in the USSR, was completed four months before the

Chernobyl Disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

. ''Lara's Child'' was the subject of an international literary scandal in 1994 because its subject was a sequel to '' Doctor Zhivago''. ''Scherzo'' was nominated for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

Frances Fyfield Frances Fyfield (born 18 November 1948) is the pseudonym of Frances Hegarty, an English lawyer and crime-writer. Biography Born and brought up in Derbyshire, Hegarty was mostly educated in convent schools before reading English at Newcastle Univ ...

called it "Sparkling and utterly charming". ''How to be a Charlatan'' is winner of the IAC Prize and was commended by Nick Webb (author of ''A Dictionary of Bullshit'') as "Appalling and immoral. How wonderful!" Jim Williams' books have received positive reviews in ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and ''

The Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

''. Jim Williams has been translated into six languages. Williams uses the pen name Richard Hugo when writing Thrillers and Alexander Mollin when writing

Historical romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Lord Byron, Byron helped popularize in the early 19th century. The genre often takes the form of the novel. Varieties ...

Bibliography

Jim Williams - Novels

Thrillers

* * * *

Murder Mystery

* ** * * * (Nominated for the

) ** *** * ** *** * ** ***

Historical Romance

Science Fantasy

Jim Williams - Non-fiction

* (Winner of the IAC Prize) *

Alexander Mollin - Novels

Richard Hugo - Novels

* ** *** * ** *** * *

References

External links

Official website of Jim Williams
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jim 1947 births Living people People from Oldham 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists Members of the Bar of England and Wales English crime fiction writers English thriller writers English non-fiction writers English autobiographers English male novelists Writers of historical romances 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers Alumni of University College, Durham