Like his friend Albert Camus, Roy was a white settler in French Algeria. He was born in Rovigo, Algeria, and spent his childhood on the farm of his maternal grand-parents, the Pâris, petits colons who lived at the village of Sidi Moussa, about eight kilometres north of the town. Roy was the fruit of an adulterous liaison between Mathilde Roy, the wife of a policeman, and Henri Dematons, a school-teacher.

In 1995, Roy, who had been living in France for many years, returned to Algeria and visited his mother's grave in the small pied noir cemetery at Sidi Moussa. During World War II, Roy commanded a Royal Air Force squadron which was engaged in bombing the Ruhr Basin; he described the missions in La Vallée heureuse (Charlot, 1946). In June 1953 he resigned from the army, a colonel, in protest at the government's policies in the First Indochina War.

His Le Voyage en Chine (Julliard, 1965) recounts the story of a visit to Mao Zedong's China during which he planned to make a film portraying what he had imagined to be the successful transformation of the society, only to be disappointed at the lack of access to real conditions. Manès Sperber points out that unlike most such "pilgrims to Utopia", Roy did not only look for what he had already found, but also criticizes him for failing to see through the propaganda-laden words of the people he interviewed. Sperber holds that events such as the 1953 Berlin uprising teach us the "unforgettable lesson" that even people who have spent the decisive years of their lives under a monopolitical system can still rise up against it; this — and reflection on the failure of the Hundred Flowers Campaign and the subsequent crackdown, events of which Roy well knew — shows up the avoidability of his mistake in taking the platitudinous eulogies of the stage-managed interviews at face value.

Roy spent the last years of his life in Vézelay, following his interest in the life of Mary Magdalene. He married Mirande Grimal, and had children, Jean-Louis and Genevieve. Following divorce he married Tatiana Soukoroukoff in 1965. Both children survived him.

Novels

• Le tonnerre et les anges, Grasset, 1975.
• Le Désert de Retz, Grasset, 1978.
• Les Chevaux du soleil, Grasset, 1980, 6 volumes ; one volume edition, Omnibus, 1995.
• La Saison des Za, Grasset, 1982.

Non-fiction

• Ciel et terre, Alger, Charlot, 1943 (épuisé).
• La Vallée heureuse, Charlot, 1946, with a preface by Pierre Jean Jouve ; Gallimard, 1948 ; Éditions Julliard, 1960 ; Albin Michel, 1989.
• Le Métier des armes, Gallimard, 1948 ; Julliard, 1960.
• Retour de l'enfer, Gallimard, 1953 ; Julliard, 1960.
• Le Navigateur, Gallimard, 1954 ; Julliard, 1960.
• La Femme infidèle, Gallimard, 1955 ; Julliard, 1960.
• Les Flammes de l'été, Gallimard, 1956 ; Julliard, 1960 ; Albin Michel, 1993.
• Les Belles Croisades, Gallimard, 1959 ; Julliard, 1960.
• La Guerre d'Algérie, Julliard, 1960 ; Christian Bourgois, 1994.
• La Bataille de Dien Bien Phu, Julliard, 1963 ; Albin Michel, 1989.
• Le Voyage en Chine, Julliard, 1965.
• La Mort de Mao, Christian Bourgois, 1969 ; Albin Michel, 1991.
• L'Amour fauve, Grasset, 1971.
• Danse du ventre au-dessus des canons, Flammarion, 1976.
• Pour le lieutenant Karl, Christian Bourgois, 1977.
• Pour un chien, Grasset, 1979.
• Une affaire d'honneur, Plon, 1983.
• Beyrouth viva la muerte, Grasset, 1984.
• Guynemer, l'ange de la mort, Albin Michel, 1986.
• Mémoires barbares, Albin Michel, 1989.
• Amours barbares, Albin Michel, 1993.
• Un après-guerre amoureux, Albin Michel, 1995.
• Adieu ma mère, adieu mon c?ur, Albin Michel, 1996.
• Journal, t. 1, Les années déchirement, 1925-1965, Albin Michel, 1997.
• Journal, t. 2, Les années cavalières, 1966-1985, Albin Michel, 1998.
• Journal, t. 3, Les années de braise, 1986-1996, Albin Michel, 1999.
• Lettre à Dieu, Albin Michel, 2001.

Essays

• Comme un mauvais ange, Charlot, 1946 ; Gallimard, 1960.
• L'Homme à l'épée, Gallimard, 1957 ; Julliard, 1960.
• Autour du drame, Julliard, 1961.
• Passion et mort de Saint-Exupéry, Gallimard, 1951 ; Julliard, 1960 ; La Manufacture, 1987.
• Le Grand Naufrage, Julliard, 1966 ; Albin Michel, 1995.
• Turnau, Sienne, 1976 (hors commerce).
• Éloge de Max-Pol Fouchet, Actes Sud, 1980.
• Étranger pour mes frères, Stock, 1982.
• Citoyen Bolis, tambour de village, Avallon, Voillot,1989.
• Vézelay ou l'Amour fou, Albin Michel, 1990.
• Rostropovitch, Gainsbourg et Dieu, Albin Michel, 1991.

Poetry

• Trois Pières pour des pilotes, Alger, Charlot, 1942.
• Chants et prières pour des pilotes, Charlot, 1943 ; Gallimard, 1948 ; Julliard, 1960.
• Sept Poèmes de ténèbres, Paris, 1957.
• Prière à Mademoiselle Sainte-Madeleine, Charlot, 1984 ; Bleu du Ciel, Vézelay, 1986.
• Chant d'amour pour Marseille, Jeanne Laffitte, 1988.
• Cinq Poèmes, Avallon, Voillot,1991.
• La nuit tombe, debout camarades !, Gérard Oberlé, 1991.
• Poèmes et prières des années de guerre (1939—1945), Actes Sud, 2001.

Drama

• Beau Sang, Gallimard, 1952 ; Julliard, 1960.
• Les Cyclones, Gallimard, 1953 ; Julliard, 1960.
• Le Fleuve rouge, Gallimard, 1957 ; Julliard, 1960.
• La Rue des Zouaves suivi de Sa Majesté Monsieur Constantin, Julliard, 1970.
• Lieutenant Karl, dramatique télé (Michel Wyn), INA, 1977.
• Mort au champ d'honneur' Albin Michel, 1995.

'Pamphlet

• J'accuse le général Massu, Seuil, 1972.

Short story

• L'?il de loup du roi de Pharan, Sétif, 1945.

Correspondence

• D'une amitié. Correspondance (1937—1962), Édisud, 1985, with the poet Jean Amrouche