Background
Jones was born on December 10, 1938 in Islington, north London, where he spent his early years. The family then moved to Greenford, west London.
Jones was born on December 10, 1938 in Islington, north London, where he spent his early years. The family then moved to Greenford, west London.
Brian was educated at Ealing County Grammar School for Boys. He won an early scholarship to Selwyn College, Cambridge, where, aged 17, he found himself separated from other students not only by social class but also by age (most of those there had first completed National Service, from which Brian was exempt as an exhibitioner).
Brian worked as an English teacher at British grammar and secondary schools, and then devoted his career to writing.
Jones' first major collection, Poems (consisting of his first book, The Madman in the Reading Room and thirty-seven other poems), was published in 1966, and proved to be successful. Those poems dealt with both the joy and the unease that may be present beneath the surface of what seems to be placid middle-class domesticity.
Brian is survived by Noëlle, his children, Cathy and Steve, and stepson, Nick.