As Professor Blackadder has written the definitive work on the protagonist's area of study, the protagonist despite having a Ph.D., cannot get a job.  
Mortimer Cropper, professor at the Robert Dale Owen University, makes a habit of raiding people's houses for material on his obsession, while Beatrice Nest wants to preserve the secrecy of what she knows.  As Professor Blackadder has written the definitive work on the protagonist's area of study, the protagonist despite having a Ph.D., cannot get a job.  However, when Randolph Henry Ash's body is dug up, revealing new truths about the granite Victorian poet, Roland Mitchell and Maud Bailey finally triumph.  FTP, name this 1990 Booker Prize-winning novel by A.S. Byatt.
Mortimer Cropper, professor at the Robert Dale Owen University, makes a habit of raiding people's houses for material on his obsession, while Beatrice Nest wants to preserve the secrecy of what she knows.  
Possession