English essayist, journalist, and author of satiric novels of British society and of scholarly biographies of literary figures. His characters are typically eccentric, sexually ambiguous, and aimless.

Wilson attended New College, Oxford (B.A., 1972; M.A., 1976), began a teaching career, and spent a year training for the priesthood before deciding to concentrate on writing. His first novel, The Sweets of Pimlico (1977), centres upon an introverted woman who is drawn into the mysterious world of an elderly aristocratic man. Wilson's next two novels, Unguarded Hours (1978) and Kindly Light (1979), chronicle the misadventures of a man who begins a career in organized religion.

Wilson's satiric writing ranges from the sometimes outrageous comedy of Who Was Oswald Fish? (1981) and Scandal (1983) to the black comedy of The Healing Art (1980), Wise Virgin (1982), The Vicar of Sorrows (1993), and My Name Is Legion (2004). His other novels include works set in the past, such as Gentleman in England (1985); Love Unknown (1986); The Lampitt Papers, a novel sequence about a well-known biographer that includes Incline Our Hearts (1988), A Bottle in the Smoke (1990), Daughters of Albion (1991), Hearing Voices (1995), and A Watch in the Night (1996); and Winnie and Wolf (2007). An esteemed biographer himself, Wilson wrote books on Sir Walter Scott (Scott, Sir Walter, 1st Baronet), John Milton (Milton, John), Hilaire Belloc (Belloc, Hilaire), Leo Tolstoy (Tolstoy, Leo), C.S. Lewis (Lewis, C.S.), Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul (Paul, the Apostle, Saint), and Iris Murdoch (Murdoch, Dame Iris). His popular histories include God's Funeral (1999), The Victorians (2002), London: A Short History (2004), and After the Victorians (2005). He also composed essays on religion and contributed regularly to several London newspapers.