Gone Tomorrow by P.F. Kluge

This is the novel of George Canaris, who at the pinnacle of his success decides to accept a chair from a small college in Ohio. He will be given a light teaching load which will afford him the time necessary to work on his next great novel, affectionately called The Beast. He intends to stay for a year. Three decades later he is finally pushed into retirement and The Beast has become a joke - no one has seen a word of it. When George is killed by a hit-and-run driver, Mark May finds that he has been named the literary executor. Mark, a young English professor, barely knew George and is puzzled why he was chosen for this role. We learn in bits and pieces what went on in George's life. An intriguing book with great characters.