Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the
Man 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 ...
in 2011 with ''
The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with ''
Flaubert's Parrot'', ''
England, England'', and ''
Arthur & George''. Barnes has also written
crime fiction
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...
under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh (having married
Pat Kavanagh).
In addition to novels, Barnes has published collections of essays and short stories, as well as two memoirs and a nonfiction book, ''
The Man in the Red Coat'', about people of
Belle Époque
The Belle Époque () or La Belle Époque () was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the Fr ...
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in the arts.
In 2004, he became a Commandeur of L'
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
. His honours also include the
Somerset Maugham Award and the
Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He was awarded the 2021
Jerusalem Prize
The Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society is a biennial literary award given to writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society.
It is awarded at the Jerusalem International Book Forum (previously kn ...
.
Early life
Barnes was born in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
, in the
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...
of England, on 19 January 1946, although his family moved to the outer suburbs of
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
six weeks afterwards.
Both of his parents were French teachers.
He has said that his support for
Leicester City Football Club was, aged four or five, "a sentimental way of hanging on" to his home city.
At the age of 10, Barnes was told by his mother that he had "too much imagination".
In 1956, the family moved to
Northwood,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
, the "Metroland" of his first novel.
He was educated at the
City of London School
The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...
from 1957 to 1964. He then went on to
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...
, where he studied modern languages.
After graduation, he worked for three years as a
lexicographer
Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines:
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries.
* The ...
for the ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
'' supplement.
[ He then worked as a reviewer and literary editor for the '']New Statesman
''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'' and the ''New Review''.[ During his time at the ''New Statesman'', Barnes suffered from debilitating shyness, about which he has said: "When there were weekly meetings I would be paralysed into silence, and was thought of as the mute member of staff."] From 1979 to 1986, he worked as a television critic, first for the ''New Statesman'' and then for ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
''.[
]
Career
His first novel, '' Metroland'', published in 1980, is the story of Christopher, a young man from the London suburbs who travels to Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, France, as a student, finally returning to London. The novel deals with themes of idealism and sexual fidelity, and has the three-part structure that is a common recurrence in Barnes's work. After reading the novel, Barnes's mother complained about the book's "bombardment" of filth.
His second novel, '' Before She Met Me'' (1982), features a darker narrative, a story of revenge by a jealous historian who becomes obsessed with his second wife's past. Barnes's breakthrough novel, '' Flaubert's Parrot'' (1984), departed from the traditional linear structure of his previous novels and featured a fragmentary biographical-style story of an elderly doctor, Geoffrey Braithwaite, who focuses obsessively on the life of Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...
. About Flaubert, Barnes has said, "he's the writer whose words I most carefully tend to weigh, who I think has spoken the most truth about writing." ''Flaubert's Parrot'' was published to great acclaim, especially in France, and it helped establish Barnes as a serious literary figure when the novel was shortlisted 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 ...
.
In 1986, Barnes published '' Staring at the Sun'', a novel about a woman growing to maturity in postwar England and dealing with issues of love, truth, and mortality. In 1989, Barnes published '' A History of the World in 10½ Chapters'', a nonlinear novel that uses a variety of writing styles to call into question perceived notions of human history and knowledge itself.
During the 1980s, Barnes wrote four crime novels under the name "Dan Kavanagh" (Barnes had recently married the literary agent Pat Kavanagh). The novels centred around the main character Duffy, a former police detective turned security advisor. Duffy is notable because he represents one of Britain's first bisexual male detectives. Barnes has said the use of a pseudonym is "liberating in that you could indulge any fantasies of violence you might have". While ''Metroland'', also published in 1980, took Barnes eight years to write, '' Duffy'' and the rest of the Kavanagh novels typically took less than two weeks each to put to paper—an experiment to test "what it would be like writing as fast as I possibly could in a concentrated way".
During the 1990s, Barnes wrote several additional novels and works of journalism. In 1991, he published '' Talking It Over'', about a contemporary love triangle, in which the three characters take turns to talk to the reader, reflecting on common events. This was followed by a sequel published in 2000 called '' Love, etc'', which revisited the characters ten years on. Barnes's novel '' The Porcupine'' (1992) again deals with a historical theme as it depicts the trial of Stoyo Petkanov, the former leader of a collapsed Communist country in Eastern Europe, as he stands trial for crimes against his country. '' England, England'' (1998) is a humorous novel that explores the idea of national identity as the entrepreneur Sir Jack Pitman creates a theme park on the Isle of Wight that resembles some of the tourist spots of England. Barnes is a keen Francophile
A Francophile is a person who has a strong affinity towards any or all of the French language, History of France, French history, Culture of France, French culture and/or French people. That affinity may include France itself or its history, lang ...
, and his 1996 book, '' Cross Channel'', is a collection of 10 stories charting Britain's relationship with France. He also returned to the topic of France in ''Something to Declare'', a collection of essays on French subjects.
In 2003, Barnes undertook a rare acting role as the voice of Georges Simenon
Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 12/13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer who created the fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most prolific and successful authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 ...
in a BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
series of adaptations of Inspector Maigret stories. '' Arthur & George'' (2005), a fictional account of a true crime that was investigated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, launched Barnes's career into the more popular mainstream. It was the first of his novels to be featured on ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' bestsellers list for Hardback Fiction.
Barnes's 11th novel, '' The Sense of an Ending'', published by Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape is a British publishing firm headquartered in London and founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death.
Cape and his business partner Wren Howard (1893–1968) set up the publishing house in ...
, was released on 4 August 2011. In October of that year, the book was awarded the Man 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 ...
. The judges took 31 minutes to decide the winner and head judge, Stella Rimington, said that ''The Sense of an Ending'' was a "beautifully written book" and the panel thought it "spoke to humankind in the 21st Century." ''The Sense of an Ending'' also won the ''Europese Literatuurprijs'' and was on the ''New York Times'' Bestseller list for several weeks.
In 2013, Barnes published '' Levels of Life''. The first section of the work gives a history of early ballooning and aerial photography
Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography.
Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...
, describing the work of Gaspard-Félix Tournachon. The second part is a short story about Fred Burnaby and the French actor Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...
, both also balloonists. The third part is an essay discussing Barnes's grief over the death of his wife, Pat Kavanagh (although she is not named): "You put together two people who have not been put together before . . . Sometimes it works, and something new is made, and the world is changed . . . I was thirty-two when we met, sixty-two when she died. The heart of my life; the life of my heart." In ''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 ...
'', Blake Morrison said of the third section: "Its resonance comes from all it doesn't say, as well as what it does; from the depth of love we infer from the desert of grief."
In 2013, Barnes took on the British government over its "mass closure of public libraries", Britain's "slip down the world league table for literacy" and its "ideological worship of the market – as quasi-religious as nature-worship – and an ever-widening gap between rich and poor".
In 2025, Barnes published the essays entitled ''Changing My Mind'', in which he questions whether it is possible for the Self to change the mind, stating instead that it is the mind that changes our identity, the Self being inside the mind and not something separate from it. Furthermore, these essays contain reflections on memory, in which, developing what his brother had suggested to him – namely that memory is "an act of the imagination" – Barnes argues that "sometimes we remember as true things that never even happened in the first place; that we may grossly embellish an original incident out of all recognition; that we may cannibalise someone else's memory, and change not just the endings of the stories of our lives, but also their middles and beginnings. I think that memory, over time, changes, and, indeed, changes our mind".
Personal life
Barnes's brother, Jonathan Barnes
Jonathan Barnes, FBA (born 26 December 1942 in Wenlock, Shropshire) is an English scholar of Aristotelian and ancient philosophy.
Education and career
Barnes, born on December 26, 1942, he was educated at the City of London School and Ballio ...
, is a philosopher specialising in ancient philosophy
This page lists some links to ancient philosophy, namely philosophical thought extending as far as early post-classical history ().
Overview
Genuine philosophical thought, depending upon original individual insights, arose in many cultures ro ...
. Julian Barnes is a patron of the human rights organisation Freedom from Torture, for which he has sponsored several fundraising events, and Dignity in Dying, a campaign group for assisted dying. He has lived in Tufnell Park
Tufnell Park is an area in north London, England, in the London boroughs of London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Camden, Camden.
The neighbourhood is served by Tufnell Park tube station on the Northern Line.
History
...
, north London, since 1983. Barnes is an agnostic. Barnes married Pat Kavanagh, a literary agent, in 1979. She died on 20 October 2008 of a brain tumour. Barnes wrote about his grief over his wife's death in an essay in his 2013 book, ''Levels of Life''.
Awards and honours
*1981: Somerset Maugham Award, winner, ''Metroland''
*1985: Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize
*1986: E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
*1986: Prix Médicis Essai, winner, ''Flaubert's Parrot''
*1992: Prix Femina Étranger, winner, ''Talking It Over''
*1993: Shakespeare Prize, Alfred Toepfer Foundation
*2004: Austrian State Prize for European Literature
*2004: Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier, 1988).
*2008: San Clemente Literary Prize
*2011: David Cohen Prize for Literature
*2011: Man 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 ...
, winner, ''The Sense of an Ending''
* 2011 Costa Book Awards, shortlist, ''The Sense of an Ending''
*2012: Europese Literatuurprijs
*2015: Zinklar Award at the first annual Blixen Ceremony in Copenhagen
*2016: Siegfried Lenz Prize
*2017: Officier in the Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur
*2021: Jerusalem Prize
The Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society is a biennial literary award given to writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society.
It is awarded at the Jerusalem International Book Forum (previously kn ...
*2021: Yasnaya Polyana Prize (for ''Nothing to Be Frightened Of'')
List of works
Novels
* '' Metroland'' (1980)
* '' Before She Met Me'' (1982)
* '' Flaubert's Parrot'' (1984) – shortlisted 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 ...
* '' Staring at the Sun'' (1986)
* '' A History of the World in 10½ Chapters'' (1989)
* '' Talking It Over'' (1991)
* '' The Porcupine'' (1992)
* '' England, England'' (1998) – shortlisted for the Booker Prize
* '' Love, etc'' (2000) – sequel to ''Talking it Over''
* '' Arthur & George'' (2005) – shortlisted for the Man 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 ...
* '' The Sense of an Ending'' (2011) – winner of the Man Booker Prize
* '' The Noise of Time'' (2016)
* '' The Only Story'' (2018)
* '' Elizabeth Finch'' (2022)
Collections
* '' Cross Channel'' (1996)
* '' The Lemon Table'' (2004)
* ''Pulse
In medicine, the pulse refers to the rhythmic pulsations (expansion and contraction) of an artery in response to the cardiac cycle (heartbeat). The pulse may be felt ( palpated) in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surfac ...
'' (2011)
Non-fiction
* ''Letters from London'' (Picador
A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bull ...
, London, 1995) – journalism from ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'',
* ''Something to Declare'' (2002) – essays
* ''The Pedant in the Kitchen'' (2003) – journalism on cooking
* ''Nothing to Be Frightened Of'' (2008) – memoir
* ''Through the Window'' (2012) – 17 essays and a short story
* ''A Life with Books'' (2012) – booklet
* '' Levels of Life'' (2013) – memoir
* ''Keeping an Eye Open: Essays on Art'' (October, 2015) – essays
* '' The Man in the Red Coat'' (2019)
* ''Changing My Mind'' (March, 2025) – essays
Works as Dan Kavanagh
Novels
* '' Duffy'' (1980)
* '' Fiddle City'' (1981)
* ''Putting the Boot In'' (1985)
* ''Going to the Dogs'' (1987)
Short story
* "The 50p Santa. A Duffy Detective Story" (1985)
As translator
* Alphonse Daudet: '' In the Land of Pain'' (2002), translation of Daudet's ''La Doulou''
* Volker Kriegel: ''The Truth About Dogs'' (1988), translation of Kriegel's ''Kleine Hunde-Kunde'
See also
* Edward Pygge, a pseudonym used by Barnes and others
References
Further reading
* Peter Childs, ''Julian Barnes (Contemporary British Novelists)'', Manchester University Press (2011)
* Sebastian Groes & Peter Childs, eds. ''Julian Barnes (Contemporary Critical Perspectives)'', Continuum (2011)
* Vanessa Guignery & Ryan Roberts, eds. ''Conversations with Julian Barnes'', University Press of Mississippi (2009)
* Vanessa Guignery, ''The Fiction of Julian Barnes: A Reader's Guide to Essential Criticism'', Palgrave Macmillan (2006)
* Matthew Pateman, ''Julian Barnes: Writers and Their Work'', Northcote House, (2002)
* Bruce Sesto, ''Language, History, And Metanarrative in the Fiction of Julian Barnes'', Peter Lang (2001)
* Merritt Moseley, ''Understanding Julian Barnes'', University of South Carolina Press (1997)
External links
Official Website of Julian Barnes
Official Website of Dan Kavanagh (pseudonym)
*
Publisher's Website
– includes facts about Barnes and ''Arthur & George''
*
*
– with profile and links to further articles.
*
Interview
on ''BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
'' ''HARDtalk
''HARDtalk'' is a BBC television and radio programme which was broadcast on the British and international feeds of the BBC News channel, and on the BBC World Service, from 31 March 1997 to 26 March 2025.
Broadcast times and days vary, depend ...
Extra'' programme – broadcast on 22 September 2006
Audio interview from Writing Lab
on ''OpenLearn
OpenLearn is an educational website. It is the UK's Open University's contribution to the open educational resources (OER) project and the home of free, open learning from The Open University. The original project was part-funded by the Wil ...
''
"Julian Barnes: Life as he knows it"
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Julian
1946 births
Living people
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English short story writers
20th-century pseudonymous writers
21st-century English essayists
21st-century English memoirists
21st-century English novelists
21st-century English short story writers
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Booker Prize winners
British postmodern writers
Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
David Cohen Prize recipients
English agnostics
English crime fiction writers
English translators
People educated at the City of London School
Prix Femina Étranger winners
Prix Médicis essai winners
Writers from Leicester
Writers from London