Howard Jacobson

Howard Jacobson was born on 25 August 1942 in Manchester, to parents of Russian-Jewish heritage. He was raised in Prestwich and educated at Downing College, Cambridge, under F. R. Leavis. He lectured at the University of Sydney, taught at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and then at Wolverhampton Polytechnic from 1974 to 1980, experiences that inspired his debut campus comedy Coming from Behind (1983). Jacobson is known for his comic novels often centring on the dilemmas of British Jewish characters. His highlights include The Finkler Question (2010), which won the Man Booker Prize—the first comic novel to do so since 1986—and J (2014), shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Other notable works include Kalooki Nights (2006) and The Mighty Walzer (1999). His discursive, humorous style explores male-female relations and the Jewish experience in mid- to late-twentieth-century Britain. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2012.