Editing John Bayley (writer) (section)

==Biography and career==
Bayley was born in [[Lahore]], [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|British India]] and educated at [[Eton College|Eton]], where he studied under [[George Lyttelton (teacher)|G.W. Lyttelton]], who also taught [[Aldous Huxley]], [[J. B. S. Haldane|J.B.S. Haldane]], [[George Orwell]] and [[Cyril Connolly]]. After leaving Eton, he read for a degree at [[New College, Oxford]], where he subsequently taught for almost fifty years. From 1974 to 1992, he was Warton Professor of [English] and a Fellow of [[St Catherine's College, Oxford|St. Catherine's College]].

Bayley enlisted in the [[British Army]] during [[World War II]], serving in the [[Grenadier Guards]] where he wound up in [[Allied-occupied Germany|postwar Germany]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220602195023/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/22/arts/john-bayley-oxford-don-who-wrote-of-his-wife-iris-murdoch-dies-at-89.html John Bayley, Oxford Don Who Wrote of His Wife, Iris Murdoch, Dies at 89] ''[[The New York Times]]'' via [[Internet Archive]]. Retrieved December 30, 2023.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220810071802/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/john-bayley-who-stirred-controvery-with-his-intimate-memoir-of-his-wife-dies-at-89/2015/01/21/91e29c8e-a19c-11e4-b146-577832eafcb4_story.html John Bayley, who stirred controversy with his intimate memoir of his wife, dies at 89] ''[[The Washington Post]]'' via [[Internet Archive]]. Retrieved December 30, 2023.</ref> Over the decades, he reviewed often in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]''. The choice of these essays and his scholarly articles from 1962 to 2002 were selected by the literary editor of ''[[The New Yorker]]'', Leo Carey, and published as ''The Power of Delight: A Lifetime in Literature.'' Bayley was also a novelist.

From 1956 until her death in 1999, he was married to the philosopher and novelist Dame [[Iris Murdoch]] who said "that her husband was perhaps 'the greatest critic since Coleridge'."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Adams|first=Tim|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/18/biography.irismurdoch|title=Interview: John Bayley|date=2001-03-18|work=The Observer|access-date=2020-03-15|language=en-GB|issn=0029-7712}}</ref>

He thought that sex was "inescapably ridiculous". In spite of, or because of, his feelings, his wife had multiple affairs with both men and women, which he occasionally witnessed for himself.<ref name="econ_Ofli">{{Cite news
| title = Of literature and love
| author = Ann Wroe
| newspaper = The Economist
| date = January 31, 2015
| access-date = 2015-02-15
| url = https://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21641126-john-bayley-english-don-literary-critic-and-husband-iris-murdoch-died-january-12th
| quote = Sex did not feature much, for the act, he thought, was inescapably ridiculous, and Iris was happy to have multiple affairs with both men and women which, on discomposing occasions, he witnessed for himself.
}}</ref> In the mid-1990s, Murdoch fell ill with [[Alzheimer's disease]], diagnosed in 1997. Bayley then wrote the book ''Iris: A Memoir of Iris Murdoch'' (1998), which was made into the 2001 film ''[[Iris (2001 film)|Iris]]'' by [[Richard Eyre]]. In this film, Bayley was portrayed in his early years by [[Hugh Bonneville]], and in his later years by [[Jim Broadbent]]. This film also stars [[Kate Winslet]] and Dame Judi Dench as Iris Murdoch. After Murdoch's death Bayley married Audi Villers, a family friend.<ref name="DT">{{Cite news|title=John Bayley, husband of Iris Murdoch, dies aged 89|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|last1=Whitehead|first1=Tom|date=21 January 2015|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11361525/John-Bayley-widower-of-Dame-Iris-Murdoch-dies.html|access-date = 22 January 2015}}</ref> He was appointed [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] in 1999.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11360441/John-Bayley.html|title=John Bayley, scholar - obituary|access-date=22 January 2015|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date= 21 January 2015}}</ref>

John Bayley died on 12{{nbsp}}January 2015.<ref name=DT />