He worked a number of jobs before joining the Royal Air Force during 1955; his first published story, "Combat's End", had been printed the year before in Vargo Statten Magazine.
[2] During the late 1950s, Bayley became friends and a frequent collaborator with Michael Moorcock on features, comics and short stories, chiefly for Fleetway Publications where he was also a regular writer of text stories, such as "The Astounding Jason Hyde" (reprinted by Rebellion Developments in 2022).
[1][3] He, Moorcock and J.G.Ballard met regularly and their discussions and theories led to the development of science fiction's New Wave.
[4] His first book, The Star Virus, was followed by more than a dozen other novels; his downbeat, gloomy themes have been cited as influential on the likes of M. John Harrison,[5] William S. Burroughs, Brian Stableford, Bruce Sterling, Iain Banks and Alastair Reynolds.
[8] The novel was unreleased at the time of his death but rumours and listings of copies have circulated, including claims of a 2002 release date and a page count of 288.