 Expelled from Charterhouse School, he was commissioned in the infantry in National service, before studying at King's College, Cambridge.Unable to earn a living as a writer, he rejoined the Army, but soon resigned, rather than be court-martialled for ‘conduct unbecoming’ on account of his gambling debts.Declaring that he wrote only for people who shared his own standards, he never attracted the mass market, and had to be rescued by publisher Anthony Blond, who paid him a regular wage on condition that he stayed out of London and concentrated on his writings, many of which Blond published.