Publisher revealed as the one man who went to Mo

His spats with publishers have become the stuff of legend - but bestselling author and three- times Booker Prize nominee Timothy Mo has at last found a firm he can deal with.

Bill Godber, managing director of London-based distribution company Turnaround Publisher Services, said he had not seen his client's famous temper. Indeed working with the boxer-turned literary pugilist is far from a chore for his company, based on a Wood Green trading estate.

Mr Godber said: "I found working with him very satisfactory, we've had no problems at all."

Explaining how the two had paired up, he explained: "We've known each other for some years. We used to do some distribution work for him which started in 1995. He's published a few books himself but now he's living in the Far East and spends all his time in south-east Asia so is not really interested in publishing himself."

The novel Pure is due to be published in April. In an email to the Sunday Times, the Sour Sweet, Monkey King and The Redundancy of Courage author explained the appeal of using a small firm: "My publisher Bill Godber has responded immediately to any queries I have had. None of this 'he's in a meeting', which is like 'your cheque is in the post'."