After working as a producer with CBC Television, he gained a PhD from University College London in 1964 and moved into academia.
He travelled and taught in Africa, in Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Tanzania.
At the University of York he was the Foujnding Master of Bethune College.
At the University of Guelph he made the Department of English a recognised centre of post-colonial studies.
[1] Predeceased by his wife Shelagh (née Anderson) in 1996, Killam died on November 17, 2020, of Parkinson's disease.