Arthur Hailey

Arthur Hailey (born April 5, 1920 in Luton , Bedfordshire , England, † November 24, 2004 in New Providence (in Lyford Cay , Bahamas)) was a British - Canadian writer .

Life

Hailey, son of a British working-class family, had to leave school at the age of fourteen because his parents could no longer pay school fees. In 1939, Hailey joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot and served in Europe , the Middle East and India .

In 1947 he emigrated to Canada. There he worked in Toronto first as a real estate agent, then he edited a specialist magazine for bus and truck transport and wrote scripts for TV productions. One of these stories was 1956 Flug in Danger . Two years later, the story became Hailey's first international hit as a book. The classic doctor's novel Last Diagnosis followed in 1959 .

Arthur Hailey's breakthrough came in the 1960s with the novels Hotel and Airport , both of which, also adapted as films and TV series, became world successes. His books reached a total circulation of over 200 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 40 languages. Through intensive source study and interviews with insiders , he tried to make his books as realistic as possible. Critics and colleagues such as B. Stephen King complained, however, that some representations of processes would read like "operating instructions". This would distract from the actual action. However, this did not affect sales of Hailey's books, which sold well around the world until the 1980s.

In the mid-1980s, Hailey had to undergo major heart surgery. After almost six years of creative hiatus, Hailey's well-researched novel Reporter came on the market in 1990 , which looks behind the scenes of American television journalism.

Hailey, who had six children from two marriages, last lived with his family in the Bahamas. At his own request, there was a party in January 2005 to celebrate his life.

Works

• Airport , Langenscheidt-Longman 2001, ISBN 3-526-41925-6 (filmed: Airport )
• Hotel , Academia, ISBN 3-883-45151-7 (filmed: Hotel )
• Der Ermittler , Ullstein, ISBN 3442352118
• Reporter , Goldmann 1992, ISBN 3-442-41331-1
• At the highest level , Ullstein 2000, ISBN 3-548-24701-6
• Bitter Medicine , Ullstein 1984, ISBN 3-548-25107-2
• Hochspannung , Ullstein 1979, ISBN 3548244467
• Wheels , Ullstein 1973, ISBN 3548032729
• Die Bankiers , Ullstein 1975, ISBN 3550062524 (filmed: Die Bankiers ) ( 1st place on the Spiegel bestseller list from April 26 to May 23 and from May 31 to August 8, 1976 )
• Last diagnosis , Ullstein 1982, ISBN 3550060580
• Flight in danger , Ullstein 1998, ISBN 3548243592 (filmed: Flight in danger )

Web links

• Literature by and about Arthur Hailey in the catalog of the German National Library
• English-language bibliography