James Bailey on The Meaning of Life

James Bailey had a broken heart.

As a teenager, he was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a heart arrhythmia that saw his heart rate go up to 300 beats a minute.

“When you’re 16 or 17, you’re not really thinking about mortality, you’re thinking about your GCSEs.”

He faced an operation that could help fix him: It didn’t work.

“I was kind of told that was it. Then six months later the surgeon was like, ‘oh let’s try a different approach.’”

The first op, he was on a children’s hospital. The second, on the cusp of adulthood, he was put in an adult ward, surrounded by heart patients in their eighties. “It was a strange time. It definitely had a psychological impact on my life.”

Then, ten years ago, he had his heart broken metaphorically after a failed relationship, which triggered a project to help him work out what the heck was the point of it all.

He decided to write to experts – entrepreneurs, artists, adventures, politicians – to ask what they thought the meaning of life is. The answers, he says offer a ‘roadmap to finding your own path.’

Dame Jane Goodall, Dame Hilary Mantel, Cat Stevens, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, Julian Fellowes, and Bindi Irwin were some who wrote back, featuring in the book of letters he’ll be bringing to Whitby.

The psychotherapist, Joshua Fletcher, also wrote back; Joshua will be interviewing James on stage about the stories behind the book, with selected letters read by actors Ace Bhatti and Greta Scaachi on stage.

James grew up in Bristol and became a full-time writer three years ago. Now 33, he’s just about to set off to work on a farm for a month in Somerset.

“We only have one life and I want to see as much of the world as possible,” James says. He does a lot of charity work for Cardiac Risk in the Young. “I hear lots of stories about young people who found out their heart problem too late, so I think I try and make the most of my time, and travel is one way I do that.”

The letters from adventurers and explorers resonated the most for him. After Whitby, he says he’s heading to Prague, then Asia.

“I’ve been kind of a nomad for the last few years and bouncing around New York and Paris and Vienna and Florence and wherever else. Maybe this is still my quest to find myself and to find meaning. I think I’m probably very curious and or maybe get bored in one place.”

It was just after a spell as a red-carpet journalist interviewing everyone from George Clooney to Jennifer Lopez (and met his childhood hero, David Beckham), that he began his letter writing project. Before The Meaning of Life was published, he wrote a debut rom com, The Flip Side, which was released in 2020.

“It was obviously not a great time given Covid happened. My dreams of my debut launch party was actually me going to an Asda with my mask on and taking a selfie on my own in the aisle there, which wasn’t quite the glitzy book launch I was hoping for.”

The Flip Side is about a young guy called Josh suffering a quarter-life crisis, who just broke up with his girlfriend, lost his job, and moved back home with his parents reaching ‘rock bottom’ in Bristol, which clearly has parallels with his own life.

“The problem is when you write about yourself in fiction then obviously all the criticism of the book is quite personal and I remember one or a few of the publishers turned my first rom-com down because they said the main character wasn’t very likeable, which is like double the hurt,” he laughs.

His second novel is also a rom-com, The Way Back To You.

“I grew up late ‘90s, early noughties, probably the Golden Age of the modern rom-com with Hugh Grant and Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and when you’re young you’re always looking to find yourself, looking to find love, and yes certainly some of the fiction is drawn from real life.”

From heart break and heart ache, James has found something close to his own happy ever after – he’s bringing his girlfriend to Whitby to explore the area and listen to other author events.

So, has he found the meaning of life?

“Ten years on I’m in a happier place than I was then but, I think, probably – as lots of people in the book say – your meaning of life changes as you get older. So, if I look back now, I have different thoughts than I would ten years ago and I’m sure in ten years’ time I’ll probably look back at this in a different light.”

James thinks so many regarded people responded to his question, because it they’d never been asked it before by journalists. Nevertheless, he was surprised by how personal many responses were.

“Tim Smit, who’s the founder of the Eden Project, his letter was written the day after his mum’s funeral. I think for some people it’s maybe cathartic, maybe even therapy. It felt like some wrote stories they probably haven’t shared, at least publicly. Maybe that’s kind of the beauty of writing to a stranger.”

He said the late Hilary Mantel’s letter really resonated with him. “She answered so eloquently, saying there may not be a meaning to life, but you can give life meaning.”

One chapter, Survivors, is from those who lived through near death experiences, including the Holocaust and 9-11. “One of my favourites was Simon Weston, the Falkland’s War veteran, he was the most positive man.”

Sir Alan Aykbourn, a featured guest at Whitby Lit Fest, has the “funniest” letter in the book (“He kind of says he has no idea why he’s alive or why he writes.”)

Some of the letters didn’t make it to print because of legal or logistical reasons, but he promises to spill all at his talk at Whitby.

“Everyone has their own take on the question, which is the beauty of it, although there are common themes and strands,” James says. “The beauty of it is the fact strangers responded, that human connection.” He also feels hearing wide perspectives is important in today’s divisive society.

As to Whitby? “I’m not going to promise the audience will find the meaning of life, but I promise them that we’ll have a very interesting discussion about it, with lots of funny stories, and hopefully it will make them think about what’s important to them. It’s a subject that appeals to everyone, why are we here?”

As to the next book, James said he has a few ideas he’s working on. “Maybe Whitby will inspire one of them. Maybe it will be a complete change, with vampires.”

James Bailey is interviewed by psychotherapist Joshua Fletcher in The Meaning of Life on 6 Nov at 7pm, featuring actors Ace Bhatti and Greta Scaachi reading selected letters. Tickets £9. Book online: whitbylitfest.org.uk.