Following his education at St Paul's School and Magdalen College, Oxford Mackenzie studied for the English Bar but he was attracted both by the theatre and by the possibility of earning his living from writing. The publication of his first novel The Passionate elopement (1911) confirmed his promise but it was not until the arrival of Sinister Street (1913) that he achieved substantial literary success. Thinly autobiographical, it followed the low-life adventures of its hero, Michael Fane, in London and Oxford and it won warm praise from writers as different as Henry James and Scott Fitzgeraid.

Having established himself as one of the leading writers of his generation Mackenzie embarked on a dazzling literary career which covered fiction, travel, biography, essays, poetry and journalism. During the First World War he served on the Gallipoli front and worked for British intelligence in Greece. The experiences produced two volumes of war memoirs and a novel, Extremes meet (1928).

After the war he lived on the Mediterranean island of Capri and entered his most prolific period. Between 1937 and 1945 he published the sextet, The Four winds of love which follows the life and loves of John Ogilvie, one of his most enduring heroes. He also wrote two entertaining accounts of lesbian love, Vestal fire (1927) and Extraordinary women (1928).

In 1934 Mackenzie built a house called Suidheachan at Northbay on the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides and committed himself to the cause of Scottish nationalism. After the Second World War he wrote a series of enjoyable and finely observed comedies of Scottish life, the most successful of which was Whisky galore (1947), a fictional account of the sinking of a ship laden with whisky on the island of Eriskay. As with the equally entertaining Rockets galore (1957) it was made into a successful film. In all his novels Mackenzie's fiction is characterised by his ability to produce farcical plots and spirited dialogue.

Mackenzie's later years were dominated by the production of the ten volumes of autobiography, My life and times (1963-1971). By then he was living in Edinburgh at 31 Drummond Place in the city's Georgian New Town which was to be his home for the rest of his life. He died on 30th November 1972 - St Andrew's Day - and was buried at Eoligarry on the island of Barra. During the brief burial service his old friend Calum Johnston collapsed and died after playing a lament on the bagpipes.

By the time of his death much of Mackenzie's earlier work had been largely forgotten but his Scottish novels have retained their appeal and The Four winds of love is rightly regarded as a major contribution to Scottish fiction.