Born as the son of a physician, Binet-Valmer initially also studied medicine, but later turned his attention towards writing novels and reviews.

The ending of Lucien was very unusual for the time, because instead of having Lucien commit suicide (then considered more or less the standard ending for a novel with a homosexual protagonist), in the final paragraph Binet-Valmer lets him elope to Naples together with his boyfriend Reginald Green.

He also indirectly caused Proust to change the title of his magnum opus, In Search of Lost Time: Initially it was called Les Intermittences du cœur, but when Proust learned that Binet-Valmer had published the novel Le Cœur en désordre (1912), the name was changed to À la recherche du temps perdu, with the former title making an appearance as a subtitle in the volume Sodome et Gomorrhe (1921/22).

[2] However, Proust later acknowledged in a letter to Jacques Boulenger, editor of L'Opinion, that "the whole press (except Binet-Valmer) deserted" him "about Sodome et Gomorrhe".

[4] From 1929, he rallyed publicly to Action Française, of which he was previously close,[5] he joined the Camelots of the King,[6] entered the Committee of the Association Marius Platteau (French Action Combators),[7] accepts Maxime Real del Sarte the presidency of the companions of Jeanne d'Arc.