Yates's fiction was autobiographical in nature and his fiction included much of his own life. Yates was born in 1926, making him 16 in 1942, the same age as Phil Drake in "Cold Spring Harbor"; he was 17 in 1943, the same age as William Grove in "A Good School"; he was 18 in 1944, the same age as Robert Prentice in "A Special Providence"; he was 29 in 1955, the same age as Frank Wheeler in "Revolutionary Road"; and he was 36 in 1962, one year younger than Emily Grimes in "The Easter Parade".