 He did his undergraduate degree at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, before attending Jesus College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a PhD for work on 18th-century painting and satire.Early in his career he worked as a clerk in the House of Commons, from which he was fired over the content of an interview he gave to a gay magazine.He has published a number of novels, and is a regular contributor, columnist and book reviewer for newspapers and weeklies such as "The Guardian", "The Spectator", "The Mail on Sunday" and "The Independent".