Jaimy studied English at Brown University, where she also earned a PhD in creative writing. She has been teaching this discipline for most of her life, both at Brown University and at the Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. She also appears as a lecturer at Prague Summer Program for Writers.
Her debut was the novel Shamp of the City-Solo in 1974, which today belongs to the classics of fantasy genre. She has written 8 novels, which are appreciated mostly by more demanding readers, mainly for taboo themes and their interesting forms. In addition to her literary works, Jaimy translates books from German.
For her latest novel, Lord of Misrule (2010), she won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2010. She was also awarded for the novel She Drove Without Stopping (Academy-Institut Award) and A Night's Work (Best American Short Stories). Her book, Bogeywoman, made it to the Los Angeles Times List of Best Books in 2000.