Nicholson was generally regarded as a satirist in the tradition of Evelyn Waugh,[5] his writing also being compared favourably with that of Kinsgley and Martin Amis, Jonathan Coe,[6]Will Self and Zadie Smith.[7] The main themes and features of his books included leading characters with major obsessions, sexual and otherwise (guitars, Volkswagens, women's feet and shoes), interweaving storylines and hidden subcultures and societies. His books usually contained a lot of black humour. He also wrote several works of non-fiction and many short stories. His novel Bleeding London was shortlisted for the 1997 Whitbread Prize.
His travelogue Day Trips to the Desert was read on Radio 4 by Bill Nighy.
His novel What We Did on Our Holidays was made into the 2007 film Permanent Vacation, featuring David Carradine, directed by W. Scott Peake.[8][9][10][11]
He was a member of the delegation of Los Angeles writers and filmmakers invited by the National Endowment for the Arts to participate in the Guadalajara International Book Festival in 2009.
Personal life and death
Nicholson's marriages to Tessa Robinson and Dian Hanson ended in divorce.[4] At the time of his death, he was in a relationship with Caroline Gannon.[4]
