After his service in the British Army, he attended Oriel College, Oxford, then art school and a year traveling in Europe and the Middle East.
Mott then began his literary career taking a job in 1956 as the editor of trade journal, Air Freight.
[4]: 125–127 On 6 May 1961, Mott married Margaret Watt, a fashion designer, at St. John's Wood Church, London.
[4]: 128 In 1962, as the couple welcomed twin daughters, Sophie and Amanda, Mott's first novel The Notebooks of Susan Berry was published.
[4]: 130 Reviewer Kenneth Allsop writing for the Daily Mail called the book, "a brilliant first novel.
Both Michael and Margaret, a costume designer with The Alliance Children's Theater and weaver,[7] were active in Atlanta's budding arts scene.
In 1992, Mott married Emma Lou Powers, he retired, Professor Emeritus, after eleven years' teaching at Bowling Green State University.