Scott, Paul

Scott, Paul (Mark)

(born March 25, 1920, Palmers Green, Eng.—died March 1, 1978, London) British novelist. Scott entered military service in India in the 1940s and later was a director of a London literary agency; he resigned in 1960 to write full-time. He is known for works chronicling the decline of the British occupation of India, notably The Raj Quartet—consisting of The Jewel in the Crown (1966), The Day of the Scorpion (1968), The Towers of Silence (1971), and A Division of the Spoils (1975)—and Staying On (1977, Booker Prize). All his works, including those set outside India, employ Indian themes or characters.