[4] Bootham's early novels and short stories attracted favourable reviews, and in 1973 he was awarded a New Zealand Literary Fund Writing Bursary.
His other pieces for radio include Bus Ominibus and But For, performed by Alan Jervis and Pat Evison and broadcast on the YC Station of the NZBC.
[5] Bootham's most recent works include three novellas published as Quince.Noon – the Trilogy (2001);[6][7][8] a short story collection The Book of Cheerful Despair (2002);[9] and a novel The Doctor Jesus Sanatorium (2003).
[14][15][16] The story is based on an historical incident in 1806, in which the brig Venus was seized at Port Dalrymple (Tasmania) by its first mate Kelly, aided by convicts, and sailed to the Bay of Islands in New Zealand.
On 6 October 1973, Ivan Bootham performed an assemblage of words and piano music by Erik Satie at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth.