No Fixed Abode: The Life and Times of America’s Greatest Unknown Spywriter

No Fixed Abode is a memoir that reads like a novel, chronicling the adventurous life of James Young Phillips, known by his pen name, Philip Atlee. A rebellious scion of Texas high society, Phillips shocked Fort Worth with his debut novel The Inheritors, a work compared to Hemingway that caused such a stir it was banned from local library shelves. From his reckless youth to World War II missions on bullet-strafed Chinese airfields, a tumultuous marriage to a runaway Swedish baroness, and the creation of his famed fictional superspy Joe Gall, Phillips’ story may offend—but it will certainly entertain.

Shunning fame much like his spy character, Phillips faded from the spotlight until his death in 1991. Now, with renewed interest in his work and TCU Press’s first-ever publication of his memoir, he is recognized as one of America’s great 20th-century writers.

No Fixed Abode takes readers on a globe-trotting journey, weaving through high-society soirées, oilfields, daring air missions, glittering nightclubs, international smuggling, a stint in an insane asylum, and encounters with Hollywood legends like John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, and Elvis Presley. It's a vivid tale of triumph, tragedy, addiction, and redemption—the greatest adventure Phillips ever wrote was his own life.

James Young Phillips, pseudonym ‘Philip Atlee’, was a Ft. Worth native whose first novel so scandalized the well-to-do citizens of his Country Club upbringing that it was banned from public library shelves. Following stints as a flight dispatcher, Marine, Broadway publicist, and screenwriter, he turned to writing mystery and espionage novels, ultimately selling millions of copies worldwide.