On 23 August 1989, while playing tennis in St. Tropez, Laing collapsed on the court and died. He was aged 61. As was typical of his character, he played despite having been warned that it was unwise because of the heat and having already had three minor heart attacks.

Several books have been published about Laing since his death. These include two major biographies, one by his son Adrian Laing (A. Laing, 1997), and another by John Clay, a writer and Jungian analyst (1997). Thirdly, there is a review concentrating on Laing's works and responses from contemporary commentators, by Zbigniew Kotowicz, a psychotherapist who trained with the Philadelphia Association (Kotowicz, 1997).

Also, in the last two years of Laing's life, Bob Mullan, a documentary film-maker, recorded two hundred hours of conversation with Laing. This allowed Laing to comment freely on all aspects of his life and activities (Mullan, 1995). The views expressed on the tapes augmented Laing's autobiography, Wisdom, Madness and Folly (1985), which only described the first thirty years of his life.