Arthur Hailey Biography and latest books by Arthur Hailey

Arthur Hailey was born on April 5, 1920 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. He was a British/Canadian novelist who is best known for his works - Airport, Wheels and The Moneychangers.

Arthur Hailey completed his elementary education in England. However, due to his family’s financial constraint he had to leave school at the age of 14. During the Second World War, he worked as a pilot in the Royal Air Force. He worked in the Middle East as a flying patrol fighter. Besides this he also transported planes to India. He served as a pilot from 1939 till 1947. In the year 1947 he migrated to Canada and got a Canadian Citizenship but retained his British Citizenship. While in Canada he worked in Toronto for a tractor-trailer manufacturer as a sales promotion manager.

Hailey became a full-time writer in the year 1956 after going through many changes in the job front. He tasted success for the first time as a writer when he wrote the screenplay for the TV play Flight into Danger in the year 1956. The story was based on his experience as a pilot.

Whenever Hailey wrote his novels, it was set on different commercial and industrial settings which always had a dramatic conflict of human. His works always had information which was thoroughly and carefully researched by him. This was very evident from his novel The Evening News which was published in the year 1990. The plot was set in the Peruvian Jungle and the story revolved around the rebel guerrillas which were being tracked down.

He made sure he did an in depth research on the subjects and industry he was writing on, giving his novels the realistic touch and appeal that was appreciated by his readers.

However some of the critics thought that it was a way to cover up his lack of talent in literature. The critics even considered his work as a potboiler style. This was because his characters were always ordinary people who would end up in a crisis, and juggled between multiple inter-related plot lines to increase the suspense for the readers.
Hailey’s popularity is proof that his readers awaited his work. No doubt most of his novels were destined to be best sellers.
(Most of Hailey’s novels were on The New York Times Bestsellers #1 list.)
His novels were translated into more than 40 languages and have sold more than 170 million copies worldwide.

Hailey lived his last days in Lyford cay, an exclusive residential resort in the Bahamas where he also breathed his last. He died on 24 November, 2004 leaving behind his second wife Sheila, his children and grandchildren.

Submitted by: Precious Pheirim