His classic works include The End of the Pier, Our Man in a Panama Hat and The Dead American. He also wrote The Third Man which was made into a film with Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton. This was after the first two drafts - The First Lady and The Second Coming - were rejected by the director on the grounds of unintential hilarity. He also kept a biopolar bear and named him Byron in honour of the poet who also kept similar ursine company when at university.