Gissing, George Robert (1857–1903)

English writer. His work deals with social issues and has a tone of gloomy pessimism. Among his books are New Grub Street (1891), about a writer whose marriage breaks up, and the semi-autobiographical Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft (1903).

His first novel, Workers in the Dawn, appeared in 1880. Between 1885 and 1895 he wrote 14 novels, including Demos (1886), his first real success; The Odd Woman (1893), which is about early feminists; and The Nether World (1889) about the London poor. He also wrote studies of the novelist Charles Dickens and other critical works.

Gissing was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, and educated at Owens College, Manchester, where he was one of the most brilliant students. His career was wrecked, however, when he was found to have stolen money to help a prostitute with whom he had formed an attachment. Subsequently he worked as a clerk in Manchester and as a tutor and gas-fitter in Boston, USA, and nearly starved in Chicago before returning to England in 1878. Some of his experiences are described in New Grub Street, and the misfortune which seemed to dog his actions is responsible for the pessimism which runs through his books.