Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin, Ireland and was educated at independent schools in the UK before studying Classics and Philosophy at Oxford. She taught philosophy at Oxford and the Royal College of Art before publishing her first novel, Under the Net, in 1954. Over her career she wrote 25 novels as well as works of philosophy, poetry, and drama. She was married to literary critic John Bayley for over 40 years until her death from Alzheimer's disease in 1999 in Oxford.