He studied at the grammar school in Benešov and his classmate in the third and fourth years was Vladislav Vančura with whom he became close friends.

[3] Nový did not finish high school and, after several short-term jobs, began to study journalism.

During World War II, he was arrested in 1944 by the Nazi occupiers and interned in the Klecina labor camp (Klettendorf) in Silesia near Wrocław.

After the liberation, he worked gradually in several newsrooms, from 1952 to 1956 he was the editor-in-chief of the State Children's Book Publishing House.

[4] The literary work of Karel Nový covers many genres: from feuilletons and short stories to long novels, from books for children and youth to theatrical plays and film scripts.