The notebooks and diaries in this series have mainly been used by Burgess, but also include entries made by his first wife, Lynne (nee Llewela Jones), and second wife, Liana (nee Macellari). Their content provides an insight into Burgess's personal and professional life and his emergence as a writer and composer. They include an incomplete chapter 3 (titled The Tragicall History) of Burgess's undergraduate dissertation about Dr. Faustus for his BA degree in English at the University of Manchester (submitted 1940); notes towards a lecture on “Cultural Reconstruction”, delivered by Burgess while working for the Royal Army Education Corps in Gibraltar between May 1943 and December 1946; and notes towards the following literary works:
1) ABBA ABBA
2) Any Old Iron (referred to as The New Novel);
3) A Clockwork Orange (under the title The Plank in Your Eye);
4) A Devil of a State;
5) Enderby Outside (Outside Mr Enderby)
6) Honey for the Bears (also known as Two, Two, the Opposites! and Honey for the Bears);
7) MF (also known as The Incest Play, The Riddle Solver, or The Solver of Riddles)
8) Nothing Like the Sun;
10) The Novel To-day
11) One Hand Clapping;
12) Shakespeare “Mr Will” [presumably Will! / The Bawdy Bard];
13) slang dictionary;
14) Tremor of Intent;
15) ) The Wanting Seed (also referred to as Fertility Novel; Let Copulation Thrive, Hope Lies with the Children);
16) A Vision of Battlements;
17) and several unidentified novels.
The notebooks also contain music score by Burgess, limericks written to his first wife Lynne, cocktail recipes, brief personal accounts, 'to do' lists, doodles and cartoons, calligraphic exercises in Jawi, appointment lists, and private diary entries for the following periods:
1) joint diary entries made by Burgess and Lynne, dated 1 January 1951 – 4 February 1951. (Location: Adderbury, Oxfordshire)
2) diary entries made by Burgess, dated 1 January 1952 - 3 January 1952. (Location: Adderbury, Oxfordshire)
3) diary entries made by Burgess, dated 1 January 1954 - 2 January 1954. (Location: Adderbury, Oxfordshire)
4) joint diary entries made by Burgess and Lynne, dated 1 January 1955 - 24 January 1955 and titled Malaya.
5) diary entries made by Lynne, dated 14 December 1956 - 27 December 1956 and titled Malaya
6) diary entry by Burgess, dated 4 February 1958;
7) diary entries by Burgess, dated 1 January 1964 - 17 February 1964;
8) two diary entries (in Italian and English) by Liana, dated 21 January 1970 and 25 January 1970. (Location: Malta)
9) diary entries by Burgess dated 1 January 1974 - 7 January 1974