Paul Torday (; 1 August 1946 – 18 December 2013) was a British writer and the author of the comic novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The book was the winner of the 2007 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic writing and was serialised on BBC Radio 4. It won the Waverton Good Read Award in 2008. It was made into a 2011 feature film of the same name, starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.
Life
Born in 1946 in Croxdale, County Durham, north-east England, and educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle and Pembroke College, Oxford, Paul Torday turned to fiction writing only later in life, and his first novel was published at the age of 59. Prior to that, he was a successful businessman living in Northumberland. The inspiration for the novel stemmed from Torday's interest in both fly fishing and the Middle East. From these two strands, he weaves a political satire that centres on the world of political spin management.
His second novel, The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce (titled Bordeaux in the United States), is about a man who drinks himself to death.
In 2008, Torday was shortlisted for his debut novel as Newcomer of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards.
Torday's third book, The Girl on the Landing, was published in 2009. This novel deals principally with themes of schizophrenia and racism.
His son Piers Torday is a children's writer.