Paul Victor Ableman (13 June 1927 – 25 October 2006) was an English playwright and novelist. He was the writer of much erotic fiction and novelisations, and a freelance writer who turned his hand to non-fiction.

Life and career

Ableman was born in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, Yorkshire to a Jewish family. He was the son of Jack Ableman, a trouser cutter at a tailoring factory, and Gertrude (née Gould), an actress and writer.Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, vol. 2, R. Reginald, 1979, pg 789 Following his parents' divorce, he lived with his mother and stepfather, Thurston B. Macauley, a journalist (sometime London correspondent for ''

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 ...

'') in New York. After National Service in the Education Corps based in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, he read English at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, but did not take a degree. His experimental novel, ''I Hear Voices'', was published in 1958 by the

Olympia Press Olympia Press was a Paris-based publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebranded version of the Obelisk Press he inherited from his father Jack Kahane. It published a mix of erotic fiction and avant-garde literary fiction, and is ...

, and his plays include ''Green Julia'' (1966), a witty two-hander in which two young men discuss an absent mistress, and ''Tests'' (1966), which collects surreal playlets written for

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

's Theatre of Cruelty.''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'', 6th Edition. Edited by Margaret Drabble, Oxford University Press, 2000 p.2 Ableman lived in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, London in the United Kingdom. He was married twice: first to Tina Carrs-Brown in 1958- they had one son, then divorced; then to Sheila Hutton-Fox in 1978 until his death in 2006- they had one son. Ableman was of Russian ancestry on his father's side and German on his mother's side.

Novels

* ''I Hear Voices'' (1958) * ''As Near As I Can Get'' (1962) * ''Vac'' (1968) * '' The Twilight of the Vilp'' (1969) * ''Bits: Some Prose Poems'' (1969, poems) * ''The Mouth and Oral Sex'' (1969, psychology) * ''Tornado Pratt'' (1978, novel) * ''Porridge: The Inside Story'' (1979) * '' A Killing on the Exchange'' (1979, novelization of his own miniseries teleplays) * ''Shoestring'' (1979) * ''Shoestring's Finest Hour'' (1980) * ''County Hall'' (1982, novel) * ''The Doomed Rebellion'' (1983) * ''Hi De Hi: The Novel'' (1983) * ''Straight Up: The Autobiography of Arthur Daley'' (1991) * ''Waiting for God'' (1994)

Plays

* ''Green Julia'' (1966) * ''Tests'' (playlets) (1966) * ''Blue Comedy: Madly in Love, Hawk's Night'' (1968)

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Independent'', 31 October 2006

Paul Ableman in The Playwrights Database

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ableman, Paul Jewish English writers English people of German-Jewish descent English people of Russian descent Writers from Leeds 20th-century English novelists 1927 births 2006 deaths Military personnel from Leeds English male dramatists and playwrights English male novelists 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers Royal Army Educational Corps soldiers 20th-century British Army personnel