Several of his earlier books were light-hearted sexual farces; his later titles included several thrillers.
At age 22, his right knee was hit by shrapnel during the Battle of Normandy, leaving him unable to bend it for the rest of his life.
[4] He trained as an engineer, working in telecommunications, before abandoning this career to concentrate on creating cartoons.
From there he drifted into writing, his first novel being successful enough to be turned into a film of the same title.
Hitchcock died of cancer in Winchester, England in 1992 shortly after his 70th birthday.