Iris Murdoch wrote novels.
Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( [ ˈmɜrdɒk ] 15 July 1919 -- 8 February 1999 ) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and philosopher , best known for her novels about good and evil , sexual relationships , morality , and the power of the unconscious . Her first published novel , Under the Net , was selected in 1998 as one of Modern Library 's 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century . In 2008 , The Times ranked Murdoch twelfth on a list of `` The 50 greatest British writers since 1945 '' . The Bell is a novel by Iris Murdoch .