He studied Modern History at Worcester College, Oxford, before serving in the British Army during World War II.

He was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps[5] and was selected for the Airborne Company, where he worked as a brigade liaison.

[7] After graduating in 1948, Adams joined the Civil Service, rising to the rank of Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, later part of the Department of the Environment.

[3] Adams was the recipient of the inaugural Whitchurch Arts Award for inspiration in January 2010, presented at the Watership Down pub in Freefolk, Hampshire.

[23] Besides campaigning against fur, Adams wrote The Plague Dogs to satirise animal experimentation (as well as government and the tabloid press).

[25] Just before his 90th birthday, he wrote a new story for a charity book, Gentle Footprints, to raise funds for the Born Free Foundation.

[26][27] Until his death, Adams lived with his wife in Church Street, Whitchurch, Hampshire, within 10 miles (16 km) of his birthplace.

[8][28] Adams celebrated his 90th birthday in 2010 with a party at the White Hart in Whitchurch, where Sir George Young presented him with a painting by a local artist.