Anthony Burgess (1917-1993) was born in Manchester and educated at Xavierian College and Manchester University. He spent six years in the army during World War II become becoming a schoolmaster and a colonial education officer in Malaya and Brunei. After the success of his Malayan Trilogy, he became a full-time writer in 1959.

He achieved a worldwide reputation as one of the leading novelists of his day, and one of the most versatile. He wrote criticism, stage plays, translations and a Broadway musical. He also composed more than 150 musical works, including a piano concerto, a violin concert for Yehudi Menuhin and a symphony. His books have been published all over the world and include A Clockwork Orange, Shakespeare, the Complete Enderby, Nothing Like the Sun, A Dead Man in Deptford, Earthly Powers and Little Wilson and Big God. He also wrote reams of journalism in his role as long-time literary critic of The Observer and The Guardian.