Booker Prize-shortlisted author David Lodge dies at the age of 89
The writer’s family said they were ‘very proud’ of him.
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Your support makes all the difference.Two-time Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist David Lodge has died at the age of 89, his publisher said.
His family said they were “very proud” of the writer, known for his plays, memoirs, TV scripts, and books, including Small World and Nice Works which were nominated for the famous literary award.
The two novels followed on from his debut campus novel, Changing Places, subtitled A Tale Of Two Campuses (1975), the first in a trilogy series about a fictional university.
The author taught in the English department at the University of Birmingham between 1960 and 1987 before retiring to focus on writing.
In a statement issued by his publisher, Penguin Random House, Lodge’s family said: “It was interesting growing up with David Lodge as a father.
“Colleagues from the University of Birmingham and writers from all over the world visited our home in Birmingham.
“Conversation over the supper table was always lively, our mother Mary very much held her own, meanwhile, David was ready with a reference book to look up something that was being disputed.
“We are very proud of his achievements and of the pleasure that his fiction, in particular, has given to so many people.”
Lodge’s publisher, Liz Foley, said: “It was a true privilege and joy to be David’s publisher and I will miss him very much.
“His contribution to literary culture was immense, both in his criticism and through his masterful and iconic novels which have already become classics.
“He was also a very kind, modest and funny person and I feel incredibly lucky to have worked with him and had the pleasure of enjoying his wit and company over the course of his recent publications.”
His campus novels, Small World and Nice Work, from the Changing Places trilogy, were adapted successfully for TV in the 1980s.
His 1995 book, Therapy, was also set on campus but dealt with an academic writer questioning his life as he enters middle age.
He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1998 for services to literature.
He also adapted Charles Dickens’ Martin Chuzzlewit for an acclaimed BBC production.
In 2010, his book, Out Of The Shelter, was longlisted for a special Booker prize award commemorating works that “fell through the net” in 1970 due to rule changes.
Lodge’s wife, Mary, died in January 2022.