He is listed in the reference book "Who's Who". Under "Hobbies" he indicated "mending punctures" and "falsifying personal records to mystify potential biographers".
He is best known for his series of "Franglais" language-instruction parody books. "Let's Parler Franglais" was published in 1979 and is still in print. It was followed by "Let's Parler Franglais Again!" and "Let's Parler Franglais One More Temps".
He played double bass in a jazz band, and began his journalism career as a jazz critic for The Times of London.