About
James Graham Ballard was a British novelist born in Shanghai in 1930. Interned with his family in a civilian camp near Shanghai during World War II, he moved to England in 1946. After studying medicine and serving in the RAF, he turned to writing. A major figure of the New Wave of science fiction, he is known for dystopian novels such as Crash, High-Rise, and Empire of the Sun, the latter adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg. His work explores the effects of technology and modern society on the psyche. He died in London in 2009.
* 1930-11-15 — † 2009-04-19
Major works
- The Drowned World (1962)novel
- Crash (1973)novel
- High-Rise (1975)novel
- Empire of the Sun (1984)novel
- Cocaine Nights (1996)novel
Key milestones
- 1943Interned with his family at Lunghua Civilian Assembly Center near Shanghai during World War II.
- 1984Empire of the Sun wins the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Guardian Fiction Prize.
- 2010His literary archive is acquired by the British Library.
Themes
dystopiatechnology and societypsychologymodernitytrauma
Sources: britannica.com · id.loc.gov · gov.uk