German novelist. A radical Catholic and anti-Nazi, he attacked Germany's political past and the materialism of its contemporary society. His many publications include poems, short stories, and novels which satirized West German society, for example
Billard um Halbzehn/Billiards at Half-Past Nine (1959) and
Gruppenbild mit Dame/Group Portrait with Lady (1971). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972.
© RM 2009. Helicon Publishing is division of RM.