In 2006, Irwin published For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists and their Enemies, his critique of Edward Said's Orientalism (1978). Alan Moore, the comic's creator, has described Irwin as a 'fantastic writer'. A character from Satan Wants Me, the Satanist Charlie Felton, has a cameo in the 1969 episode of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic.

Later novels would focus on diverse subjects, such as British Surrealism ( Exquisite Corpse) and Satanism in Swinging London ( Satan Wants Me). The Arabian Nightmare, which was inspired by Jan Potocki's The Manuscript Found in Saragossa. This includes his first, the acclaimed dark fantasy novel

Many of Irwin's novels focus on Arabic themes. He has published a history of Orientalism and is an acknowledged expert on The Arabian Nights. Irwin is currently a research associate at SOAS, and the Middle East editor of The Times Literary Supplement. He gave up academic life in 1977 in order to write fiction, while continuing to lecture part-time at Oxford, Cambridge and SOAS. From 1972 he was a lecturer in medieval history at the University of St. During his studies, he converted to Islam and spent some time in a dervish monastery in Algeria. His thesis was on the Mamluk reconquest of the Crusader states, but he failed to complete it. Irwin attended Epsom College, read modern history at the University of Oxford, and did graduate research at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) under the supervision of Bernard Lewis. Robert Graham Irwin (born 23 August 1946) is a British historian, novelist, and writer on Arabic literature.

For Lust Of Knowing by Robert Irwin