His father, Prem Nath Seth, was an executive of Bata Shoes and his mother, Leila Seth, a Barrister by training, became the first female judge of the Delhi High Court and first woman to become Chief justice of a state High Court in India.

[5] At Doon, he was influenced by his teacher, the mountaineer Gurdial Singh, who taught him geography and according to Leila Seth, "guided Vikram in many ways...encouraged him to appreciate Western classical music and instilled in him a love of adventure and daring.

In addition to The Golden Gate, Seth has written other works of poetry including Mappings (1980), The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985), All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990) and Three Chinese Poets (1992).

He was also commissioned by the English National Opera to write a libretto based on the Greek legend of Arion and the Dolphin.

[12] Seth later explained to Gordon that he had passed the interview not because of commercial considerations, but because unlike the others he was the only agent who seemed as interested in his poetry as in his other writing.

Seth followed what he has described as "the ludicrous advance for that book" (£250,000 for A Suitable Boy)[13] with £500,000 for An Equal Music and £1.4 million for Two Lives.

[16] On 16 June 2024, publishing house Speaking Tiger announced the release of Seth's English translation of the sacred Hindu hymn Hanuman Chalisa - his first new work in over a decade.

He was in a relationship with the violinist Philippe Honoré for ten years and dedicated his novel An Equal Music to him.