I haven’t been able to learn much about Ramsay Williams (1917-1981). He never published another novel or any short stories. His sporadic acting credits in film and television suggest that he may have shared some of the job-hunting experiences of his protagonist in Bitten Apples. Curiously, although Williams was an American, the book was published only in England. My copy had a career in the Skelmersdale branch of the Lancastershire public library and as a rental in the day-by-day service of W. H. Smith.
Bitten Apples by Ramsay Williams. MacGibbon & Kee (1960), 223 pp.
Conrad Eldred, a stage actor pushing 40, arrives in Hollywood to begin a movie career. He contacts Luke Barney, a friend from earlier days in New York who has become a major film star. Luke works hard at his job and enjoys its benefits, his large home in the hills, his plentiful liquor supply, and his unlimited access to beautiful starlets. Conrad isn’t attracted to any of this, particularly its belittlement of women. He’s focused on acting, and although competition is stiff, the studios are fading and he doesn't even have an agent, he’s confident he’ll find steady work. He also has a less salient goal. If an attractive woman, one who’s not hustling to get ahead in Hollywood, should show up, he’s readier than he realizes to begin a relationship.
The author then puts Conrad’s thespian job quest on hold for awhile and turns the story away from the movie business and toward Conrad’s lifetime search for a soulmate. This redirection is handled fairly smoothly but may make readers wonder whether the plot is straying off track. It’s not. Williams keeps everything under control, and the novel works as intended. He sometimes employs stereotypes (the minor characters at Hollywood get-togethers are uniformly shallow and self-interested) but he handles the friendship between Luke and Conrad with knowing sensitivity. Readers may wish for more action -- less telling and more showing. And they may ultimately ask themselves if they missed some crucial foreshadowing when they get to the book’s surprise ending.