 In 1881 he published his first volume of short stories under the title of "La Maison Tellier"; it reached its twelfth edition within two years.In 1883 he finished his first novel, "Une Vie" (translated into English as "A Woman's Life"), 25,000 copies of which were sold in less than a year.His second novel "Bel Ami", which came out in 1885, had thirty-seven printings in four months.