John Brunner (John Kilian Brunner) Biography

British science fictionwriter, born in Oxfordshire. From Galactic Storm (1952) onward he was a prolific producer of space operas, among the best of which are The Atlantic Abomination (1960), The Day of the Star Cities (1965), and The Long Result (1965). At the same time, novels such as The Brink (1959), The Whole Man (1964), and Squares of the City (1965) were more ambitious. Four subsequent novels remain his main accomplishment: Stand on Zanzibar (1968) dealt with overpopulation in the near future; The Jagged Orbit (1969) encompassed racial politics; The Sheep Look Up (1972) focused on pollution; and The Shockwave Rider (1975) addressed the information revolution. Varyingly experimental in form, argumentative, and urgent, these four dystopias utilized science fiction conventions to address current dilemmas. Later work includes The Great Steamboat Race (1983), which affectionately recreated life on the Mississippi.