Catto wrote adventure novels and dramas for more than four decades and also wrote under the pseudonym Simon Kent. Ten of his works were adapted for film, the most notable of which was the novel The Killing Frost, which became Carol Reed's 1956 film Trapeze. Although he was a holder of a degree in electrical engineering from Manchester University, Catto began writing novels and plays in the late 1930s. After a stint in the Royal Air Force during World War II, Catto returned to writing fiction. Exotic settings and fast-paced action were the trademarks of his novels, defying categorization into any one genre, instead blending elements of many popular literary styles. Much of his work has been translated into other languages.

The following bibliography is reproduced from Contemporary Authors, Volume 137.

Novels:

River Junk - Arthur Barker, 1937

The Hairy Man - M. Secker, 1939

Ginger Charley - M. Secker, 1939

The Flanagan Boy - Harrap, 1949

The Killing Frost - Heinemann, 1950, published as Trapeze, Landsborough, 1959

The Sickle - Heinemann, 1952

The Mummers - Heinemann, 1953

A Prize of Gold - Heinemann, 1953

Gold In The Sky - Heinemann, 1956, Morrow, 1958

The Devil at Four O'Clock - Heinemann, 1958, Morrow, 1959

The Melody Of Sex - Heinemann, 1959, Morrow, 1960

Mister Moses - Morrow, 1961

D-Day In Paradise - Heinemann, 1963, Morrow, 1964

The Tiger In The Bed - Morrow, 1963

I Have Friends In Heaven - Heinemann, 1965, Little, Brown, 1966

Love From Venus - Heinemann, 1965

Bird On The Wing - Heinemann, 1966

The Banana Men - Simon & Schuster, 1967

Murphy's War - Simon & Schuster, 1969

King Oil - Simon & Schuster, 1970

The Fattest Bank In New Orleans - Heinemann, 1971

Sam Casanova - Heinemann, 1973, Signet, 1977

Mister Midas - M. Joseph, 1976

The Empty Tiger - St. Martin's, 1977

Novels Under Pseudonym Simon Kent:

Fleur-de-Lys Court - Heinemann, 1950

The Doctor On Bean Street - Crowell, 1952 (published in England as For The Love Of Doc, Heinemann, 1952)

A Hill in Korea - Hutchinson, 1953

Fire Down Below - Hutchinson, 1954

Ferry to Hong Kong - Hutchinson, 1957

The Lions At The Kill - Hutchinson, 1959

Charlie Gallagher My Love! - Hutchinson, 1960, Macmillan, 1961

Max Catto