In the mid-1970s, Bryson began working in a psychiatric hospital in Virginia Water, Surrey, England. There he met and soon married his English wife, Cynthia, a hospital nurse. Together they returned to the USA in order for Bryson to complete his college degree, after which they settled in England in 1977, remaining there until 1995. Living in North Yorkshire and mainly working as a journalist, he eventually became chief copy editor of the business section of The Times, and then deputy national news editor of the business section of The Independent. He left journalism in 1987, three years after the birth of his third child.

In 1995, Bryson returned to live in Hanover, New Hampshire for some years. In 2003, however, Bryson and his family returned to England, and are now living near Wymondham, Norfolk.

Also in 2003, in conjunction with World Book Day, voters in Great Britain chose Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island as the book that best sums up British identity and the state of the nation. In the same year, he was appointed a Commissioner for English Heritage.

In 2004, Bryson won the prestigious Aventis Prize for best general-science book with A Short History of Nearly Everything. This concise and popular piece of literature explores not only the histories and current statuses of the sciences, but also reveals their humble and often humorous beginnings. One "top scientist" is alleged to have jokingly described the book as "annoyingly free of mistakes". [1]

Bryson has also written two works on the history of the English language - Mother Tongue and Made in America - and, more recently, an update of his guide to usage, Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (published in its first edition as The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words in 1983). These books were popularly acclaimed and well-reviewed, though they received criticism from academics in the field, who claimed they contained factual errors, urban myths, and folk etymologies. Though Bryson has no formal linguistics qualifications, he is generally a well-regarded writer on the subject of languages.

In 2005, Bryson was appointed Chancellor of Durham University. He had praised Durham as "a perfect little city" in Notes from a Small Island. He succeeded the late Sir Peter Ustinov. He has also been awarded honorary degrees by numerous universities. In 2006, he also ran the Tresco marathon, the Scillian equivalent of the London marathon.

His next book project is a memoir about growing up in America in the 1950s called The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Stephen Katz again figures prominently in the book, and is revealed to be Catholic, not Jewish as many have assumed since encountering him in A Walk in the Woods.