J.G. Ballard was born in 1930 in Shanghai, China, where his father was a businessman. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Ballard and his family were placed in a civilian prison camp. They returned to England in 1946. After two years at Cambridge, where he read medicine, Ballard worked as a copywriter and Covent Garden porter before going to Canada with the RAF. He started writing short stories in the late 1950s, while working on a scientific journal.
His first major novel, The Drowned World was published in 1962. His acclaimed novels include The Crystal World, The Atrocity Exhibition, Crash (filmed by David Cronenberg). High-Rise, The Unlimited Dream Company, Empire of the Sun, The Kindness of Women, Cocaine Nights, Super-Cannes, Millennium People and, most recently, Kingdom Come.
His first major novel, The Drowned World was published in 1962. His acclaimed novels include The Crystal World, The Atrocity Exhibition, Crash (filmed by David Cronenberg). High-Rise, The Unlimited Dream Company, Empire of the Sun, The Kindness of Women, Cocaine Nights, Super-Cannes, Millennium People and, most recently, Kingdom Come.
