Arthur Hailey

Arthur Hailey – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

: Arthur Hailey (1920–2004) was a British-Canadian novelist famed for his meticulously researched, plot-driven novels—Hotel, Airport, Wheels, The Moneychangers, and more. Discover his life, writing style, impact, and memorable quotes.

Introduction

Arthur Hailey stands among the most commercially successful novelists of the 20th century, with over 170 million books sold in dozens of languages. He pioneered a genre of fiction that mixes dramatic human conflict with deep behind-the-scenes exposition of industries—hotels, air travel, banking, utilities, pharmaceuticals—making the machinery of modern life into gripping narrative.

But beyond his bestseller status lies a writer with a strong work ethic, a fascination for realism and systems, and tension between literary critical reception and popular appeal. This article explores the full arc of his life, his method, and the legacy he left behind.

Early Life and Family

Arthur Frederick Hailey was born on April 5, 1920, in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, the only child of George Wellington Hailey (a factory worker) and Elsie Wright Hailey. From a young age, he demonstrated literary interest—writing poems, plays, and short stories—and his mother encouraged his ambitions by sparing him chores so he could write.

At age 14, Hailey failed to gain a scholarship that would have allowed further formal schooling, and had to leave school. He worked as an office boy and clerk in London from 1934 to 1939.

When World War II broke out, Hailey joined the Royal Air Force, serving as a pilot and eventually rising to the rank of flight lieutenant.

Emigration to Canada & Early Career

In 1947, dissatisfied with postwar politics in Britain, Hailey emigrated to Canada, where he became a naturalized citizen (or dual citizen) and began building a life in Toronto.

In Canada, he held a variety of jobs including real estate, sales, advertising, and editing the trade magazine Bus and Truck Transport. He also wrote for television and radio—one of his early successes was the teleplay Flight into Danger (1956).

That teleplay was later adapted into a novel (co-credited) and became a model for Hailey’s storytelling style, illustrating crisis in a technical system (in that case, aviation) and combining procedural detail with human drama.

Literary Breakthrough & Signature Novels

Method & Approach

Hailey is famed for his rigorous research approach. He would often spend a full year investigating a given industry, conduct interviews, read technical documents, spend time inside factories or institutions, and then spend many months writing. His novels typically follow multiple interwoven characters whose lives intersect within a specific sector—be it a hotel, an airport, automobiles, or financial institutions.

Hailey himself said, “I’m a storyteller, and anything else is incidental.” He did not claim literary pretensions; his strength was in drawing readers into machinery and systems they might never see, but which affected their daily lives.

Major Works & Commercial Success

• Hotel (1965) — Set in a New Orleans luxury hotel, it explores the lives of staff and guests over several days. It spent 48 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and became one of his defining works.

• Airport (1968) — Perhaps his most famous. The novel focuses on a night of crisis in an airport, combining human drama, machinery, logistics, and suspense. It topped the NYT list and was adapted into a blockbuster film (1970) with multiple Oscar nominations.

• Wheels (1971) — A behind-the-scenes look at the auto industry, its pressures, and personalities.

• The Moneychangers (1975) — Set in banking/finance.

• Overload (1979) — Set in the electrical utility industry.

• Strong Medicine (1984) — Focused on the pharmaceutical sector.

• The Evening News (1990) — A media/television setting.

• Detective (1997) — His final full novel, blending crime, politics, and procedural detail.

He also published The Lyford Legacy: A Brief History of Lyford Cay (2000), a short work tied to his Bahamian home.

The adaptation of Airport to film brought Hailey even greater fame—Airport was among the top grossing films of 1970, and sparked a wave of disaster films.

Later Life, Critical Reception & Decline

In the late 1970s Hailey announced his retirement—particularly after needing quadruple bypass surgery. Yet he returned and continued producing. Over time, his commercial success somewhat declined, though he remained a widely read author.

Critically, Hailey was never a darling of literary elite circles. Some reviewers dismissed his work as formulaic or “thrillers with technical detail.” Others conceded that his craftsmanship—his ability to hold a large plot together—was admirable.

In later years, Hailey relocated to the Bahamas, in part for tax considerations, settling in Lyford Cay, where he lived until his death.

He died November 24, 2004, at age 84, reportedly in his sleep, likely due to a stroke, at his home in the Bahamas.

Legacy and Influence

Arthur Hailey’s legacy lies in blending technical systems and human drama—a template many later authors and filmmakers adopted. His novels opened windows into industries many readers would never see: behind the scenes of hotels, airlines, hospitals, finance, power plants.

His commercial reach was enormous: Airport, Hotel, Wheels, and others translated well to film and television, further amplifying his audience.

Moreover, many writers of “industry thriller” or “procedural drama” owe a debt—Hailey helped show that technical systems themselves can be characters in stories, that bureaucracy, machinery, and institutional pressures can drive conflict.

His archives are preserved at institutions such as the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto and the Harry C. Moore Library, College of the Bahamas.

While literary tastes evolve, Hailey remains a benchmark for combining research, popular appeal, and human stakes.

Personality, Work Ethic & Writing Philosophy

Hailey was disciplined and self-aware. He adhered to quotas: one famous quote describes that he set 600 finished words a day—regardless of weather, mood, or health. He emphasized consistency over inspiration.

He admitted never inventing characters wholly from imagination; instead, he tended to draw from real life, combining traits, experiences, and observations.

Hailey also valued continual learning:

“I loved education, and, yes, I did want to go on learning.”

His humility about luck is apparent:

“I have been extraordinarily lucky. Anyone who pretends that some kind of luck isn’t involved in his success is deluding himself.”

He also believed writers should expose themselves to new environments:

“No man can really succeed if he doesn’t move away from where he was born. I believe it is particularly true for the writer.”

Hailey’s style was not ornamental; he focused on clarity, plot momentum, and believable dialogue, with an underpinning of realism drawn from research.

Famous Quotes of Arthur Hailey

Here are some of his more memorable and oft-cited lines:

• “I set myself 600 words a day as a minimum output, regardless of the weather, my state of mind or if I'm sick or well. There must be 600 finished words — not almost right words.”

• “I don’t think I really invented anybody. I have drawn on real life.”

• “I loved education, and, yes, I did want to go on learning.”

• “When I began writing that I was able and did travel and met some fascinating people and also uncovered some history, which has not been discovered before.”

• “No man can really succeed if he doesn’t move away from where he was born. I believe it is particularly true for the writer.”

• “Winners will be losers if they don’t support the losers.”

These mirror his beliefs in hard work, grounded storytelling, and humility in success.

Lessons from Arthur Hailey

1. Research deeply, write accessibly. Hailey’s balance between technical detail and engaging narrative remains instructive to writers bridging specialty topics to a general audience.

2. Consistency beats inspiration. His daily word quota approach underscores that sustained effort often matters more than waiting for the muse.

3. Real life is a richer palette than pure imagination. Drawing on real people, places, and systems gives authenticity and resonance.

4. Plot and systems can coexist. Hailey shows that stories can revolve around infrastructure, institutions, and machinery, without losing emotional stakes.

5. Be humble about success. Acknowledging luck, discipline, and external forces helps temper hubris and sustain creative longevity.

Conclusion

Arthur Hailey remains a literary phenomenon: an author whose name may not always sit among the high-literary canon, but whose reach, influence, and mass appeal are undeniable. Through his integration of drama and system, he invited readers into worlds they never otherwise see—airports, hospitals, hotels, power grids—while grounding them in human tension.

His disciplined craft, his humility, and his belief in continual learning make him a model for writers and storytellers. Whether or not you love every one of his novels, his approach to storytelling invites us to look behind the curtain of modern life and see the machinery, complications, and human stories that churn beneath.