 In 1974, he began studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury, graduating in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts(honours) in English and philosophy.After spending a year writing fiction, he resumed his studies at the University of East Anglia where he studied with Malcolm Bradbury and Angela Carter, and gained a Master of Arts in creative writing in 1980.His thesis became his first novel, "A Pale View of Hills", published in 1982.