Biography

Educated at Balliol College, Oxford, England. Decided early on an aeronautical career, and went to work for the de Havilland Aircraft Company as an engineer, where he was heavily involved in the construction of the airship R100. After the disastrous loss of the R101, built by the government in direct competition with his design, he changed to aeroplane contruction, founding his own firm Airspeed Ltd in 1931. First novel, Marazan (1926) written at this time. Did secret work for British Admiralty during WWII. He still wrote in this period. Visited Australia for 2 months in 1948, a trip that inspired A Town Like Alice. With his family he settled in Australia, where he later died.
- IMDb mini biography by: <dferstat@iinet.net.au>

His 1947 novel, "No Highway", was adapted into a screenplay for the 1951 movie "No Highway In The Sky" starring Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich (q.v.). It dealt with aircraft metal fatigue, still an unknown quantity at the time prior to its confirmation in the crashes of the de Havilland Comets in the early 1950s. The scientist (played by Stewart) was treated with skepticism until proven right by events, a strangely prescient outcome.
- IMDb mini biography by: Ian Price

"Shute Avenue" in the Town of Berwick, Australia, where part of the film On the Beach (1959) was filmed, is named in his honour.

All good designers are difficult men or they could not be good designers.

Airline stewardesses are not chosen for their repellent qualities.

When you've seen all the new places you've got no more new places to see. And anyway, one new place is just like another new place.

If you're going to make your life in a new country you should go before you're 25. After that you start to get associations, little grooves and anchors, that make it difficult to change.

You can't go through life sitting on the fence. You've got to make decisions, and sometimes you're pretty sure to make them wrong.