A new type of unsaturated poly(ester-amide) viz maleic anhydride-phthalic anhydride-ethylene glycol-neopentylene glycol-glycin copolymer was prepared by melt polycondensation. The copolymer was characterized by FT-IR, gel permeation chromatography, and thermal gravimetric analysis. The molecular structure of crosslinked unsaturated poly(ester-amide) was determined by wide-angle X-ray diffraction. Hydroxyapatite (n-HA) was used to boost up the new unsaturated poly (ester-amide), the flexural properties of n-HA/unsaturated poly(ester-amide) nanocomposites with different n-HA content were measured. Studies of degradation behavior were carried out in simulated body fluid at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C, the flexural strength changes and cumulative mass loss of n-HA/unsaturated poly(ester-amide) nanocomposites were measured at different degradation times. The n-HA/unsaturated poly(ester-amide) nanocomposites was hydrolyzed in 1M NaOH standard solution at room temperature to study the mass loss with different n-HA contents. All the preliminary results suggested that n-HA/unsaturated poly(ester-amide) nanocomposites might be potentially used as a new type of bone fixation material. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 121: 2591-2596, 2011