کتاب The Venice Hotel (رمان هتل ونیز)

Joseph was born in Upper Clapton, London. During the First World War, he served as a captain in the Machine Gun Corps and was in the line near Arras. After the war, he embarked on a writing career, his first book being Short Story Writing for Profit (1923).

In 1930, he lived near Regent’s Park, where he adopted a Siamese cat, Charles, who became the subject of Joseph’s book Charles – The Story of a Friendship. In the summer of 1935, Joseph moved to Acacia Road, St John’s Wood, opposite composer Roger Quilter. At the outbreak of war in 1939, Joseph moved to Mayfield, Sussex.

After a period as a literary agent for Curtis Brown, Joseph founded his own publishing imprint as a subsidiary of Victor Gollancz Ltd. Gollancz invested £4000 in Michael Joseph Ltd, established 5 September 1935.