Schoolmaster and prolific novelist, he was born on 1 August 1919 in Bulwell, Nottingham and lived there all his life, apart from the war years. He was educated at High Pavement School and University College (now the University of Nottingham). He returned to his old school to teach English and was head of Department from 1958 until retiring in 1981. The actor Peter Bowles was one of his pupils. Between 1958 and 2008 he published 44 novels and was joint winner of the Booker Prize in 1974 for his novel Holiday. He declined an MBE in 1979, but was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1998 and received several honorary doctorates..
His appetite for knowledge and his musical gifts showed themselves early in his life. He was a long-standing member of Ravensworth Road Methodist Church, Bulwell, where (and also at the local Baptist church) he played the organ. In retirement he also took up painting in watercolours. He died in Nottingham on 25 July 2009.
'What is so extraordinary about Mr. Middleton's talent is that, despite implacable domesticity, he is not trivial … Mr. Middleton does not want to change anybody's view of the world; he only wants to help the readers understand and better the view of it that they already have, and his quietness and patience do indeed lead him to success in that endeavour.'
Bernard Levin
'Stan was a well-informed, unassuming man who readily responded to those who asked, sharing his knowledge, pointing to sources where further information could be found. He generously gave of his time and taslents. He was a man who when he saw potential had the ability to draw it out gently by words of encouragement.'
Harry Gillespie, in Methodist Recorder, 8 October 2009