The Harry Fielding quartet Standalone literary novels
Ireland’s best-kept secret — one of our great contemporary writers.
Bob Geldof
Harry Fielding, the narrator, is a gem.
Roddy Doyle on The Crooked Man
A criminally neglected quartet that can bear comparison with any spy fiction.
The Irish Times on the Harry Fielding novels
An exciting, literate thriller.
Sunday Times on The Crooked Man
As flawed heroes go, Harry Fielding must rank among the best of them.
Irish Independent on The Crooked Man
Philip Davison is a gem of a writer, and this is a glittering read, deceptively leisurely in pace, with killer flashes just when you least expect them.
Irish Times on The Long Suit
Chilly, elegant and disconcertingly comic. Rather like a collaboration between two notable Green(e)s — Graham and Henry — and quite safely described as original.
Literary Review on McKenzie’s Friend
Part le Carré, part Graham Greene . . . thoroughly compelling . . . cracking dialogue.
Independent on A Burnable Town
Pre-eminently human . . . funny in the way that The Catcher in the Rye was funny.
Books Ireland on The Book-Thief’s Heartbeat
Fiction
The Novels
Ten novels published between 1981 and 2023 — from early Dublin fiction to the Harry Fielding spy quartet and the recent work with Liberties Press.
A darkly comic study of middle-aged recklessness — a respectable man leaning into danger — shot through with a noir undercurrent. Also dramatised for radio.
Davison’s highly praised 1981 debut novel, announced a restless, expressionistic talent. Short, episodic and existential, it set the tone for four decades of singular, uncompromising work.
Co-Op Books
Poetry
Alongside the fiction and drama, Davison’s work in verse.
Exposure · Criminal ConversationFeature dramas, co-scripted by Philip Davison.
Television
The Crooked ManThe Harry Fielding novel dramatised for television (ITV).ITV 2000s adaptation • DVD cover featuring Ross Kemp
Documentary
Learning GravityWritten by Philip Davison with director Cathal Black — a portrait of the Irish-American poet, essayist and undertaker Thomas Lynch, and his humane view of life and the state of ceasing to be.
RTÉ Radio Drama
Radio
A long association with RTÉ — original radio plays and radio stories for children.
The Neighbourhood’22 / ’23
Lollie’s Earthrod2020
Jumping Hedges2017
Lockie’s Umbrella2017
One Way Telephone2015
On Being Flattened2013
Love and Animals2011
Some Lizards2009
The Fishmonger2006
Lennon’s Guitar2005
Being Perfect2004
The Duke2004
The novels Eureka Dunes and Quiet City were both dramatised for radio.
Biography
About
Philip Davison lives in Dublin. He won the BBC Stewart Parker Award for Radio Drama. In 2008 he was elected to Aosdána. He was Writer Fellow at Trinity College Dublin in 2012.
